A Different Art
by metroanime
Summary: What if Ranma had studied a different Art than Anything Goes?
1. Default Chapter Title

  
A Different Art, brief treatment given BY REQUEST Ranma 1/2 by R.Takahashi, other char by other people and i could see a LOT of crossover possibilities with this one. Not only Gold Digger (Ranma as the up-and- coming young mage investigated by Dr Diggers on behalf of the wizard's council) but traditional fantasy literature and even Chris Stasheff's Warlock series.  
  
NOTE: this is just meant to be amusing. Not Epic, not Great Literature, not Canon, not Akanecentric. Can't deal with the "nots" then save us both some frustration and read... well "Hearts Of Ice" is mainly canon, sort of, and manages to at least touch base with the other three.  
  
this was meant to be exclusive to the Ranma 1/2 Superhighway, but i haven't heard from Red Death since then and i've seen a LOT of sites which have it archived anyway.  
  
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chapter 1: Ill Met In Nerima  
an Expansion Set betfic by gregg, metroanime@mindspring.com http://metroanime.home.mindspring.com  
  
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"Arguing is what couples do best." - Genma Saotome.  
  
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April 10, 1982...a mountain glade in Tibet.  
  
A young father continued to look for his six year old son, who had wandered off during the night (looking for a little privacy.)  
  
"Ranma!" The call echoed through the mountains.  
  
Genma grimaced. In the kind of mountains there were around here, a child wandering in the dark was likely to end up with a rather painful landing at the very least. He had been a bit rough on the child, even beyond normal standards. Maybe he should have expected the boy to hide after that. If Ranma HAD run away, it brought up another problem.  
  
How was he going to explain this to Nodoka?  
  
He missed entirely the odd runes flaring to life on the inside of a nearby cave.  
  
------------------  
  
March 1, 1992, same place  
  
The runes flared to life again, as they had done sporadically over the ages. Then, as they had also done before, the runes faded to become mere scratches on the wall.  
  
A young man wearing rough but serviceable clothing stepped out of the cave and fixed his eyes on the landscape before him. Nodding, he scuffed a circle into the ground. After consulting a crude compass, he began scrawling sigils, glyphs, and other odd markings around the circle, with the largest symbol pointing due North.  
  
Raising his hands over his head, the youth began to speak.  
"Powers of light, hear as I ask,  
Guide me on this simple task,  
Where I must go, what I must do.  
The fateward path, show me true,  
This I ask as boon from you."  
  
A beam of light seemed to rise out of the circle, and Ranma carefully sighted along it.   
  
Nodding again, he mumbled a word of thanks and scuffed his foot along the circle. The beam went out abruptly.  
  
He left the statuette in his pack, no point in waking him up. A cloth was unfolded several times, and a few moments later one of the local sheep observed the unusual sight of a flying carpet heading due East could be seen.  
  
Unfortunately, Ranma did not see the runes flaring to life again behind him. It would have saved him some problems later.  
  
----------------------------  
  
Ranma was frowning. The magic here was chaotic, rather like the Mists Of Change in the Faerie Realm. He wasn't too concerned until the carpet suddenly seemed to become so much lifeless fabric.  
  
Angling down towards one of the many pools, Ranma cast a velocity damping spell and watched as his satchel sailed past with the carpet. As soon as his velocity was down to a gentle drift, he allowed himself to land on one of the ridges of dirt seperating the pools.  
  
The satchel waddled out of a pool, dripping water, and had a distinctly unhappy air.  
  
Ranma sighed, noting that the carpet was waterlogged in one of the springs. He reached in for it. A moment later he was using a few words he'd picked up in one of the seedier taverns he'd visited. He really should have known better.  
  
"Oh, young miss!" A rather large man in a Chinese uniform came hurrying up. "You did not...oh you DID get wet."  
  
Ranma nodded her head, not trusting herself to speak as she'd probably say something quite nasty or throw a few fireballs around.  
  
"Ah, well that is 'Spring Of Drowned..."  
  
"Girl?" Ranma guessed.  
  
"Oh no, miss. That one over there. This Spring Of Drowned Amazon. Very terrible tragic story of Amazon who fight Musk warriors here 350 year ago. Now whoever fall in Spring take body of young Amazon!"  
  
"I would never have guessed," said Ranma drily. "What's the cure?"  
  
"No cure."  
  
"There will be." Ranma promised.  
  
"Hot water turn you back, but only until cold water change you again." The Guide paused. "Where you come from, miss, I no see you arrive..."  
  
"Any planes ever lose power over these springs?"  
  
"Yes, miss, most people know you no fly over Jusenkyo. Very bad terrible tragic stories of people who try."  
  
"Figures," Ranma squeezed what water she could out of her carpet. It would have to dry, and then she'd have to check the spells before she could risk flying it again.  
  
Ranma blinked as a thought occured to her. "Do all of these springs have similar effects? Oh, and I'm a guy. Present appearance not withstanding."  
  
"Yes sir. Why you ask..." The Guide looked at the coin that Ranma handed him. It... was gold?!  
  
Ranma opened the satchel and started pulling out large containers and finally a long-handled ladle. "I want you to tell me which one is which."  
  
"But sir..." The Guide looked at the coin in his palm, then bit on it. It was real and he estimated the heavy coin to be worth more than he made in a year. "Okay, but why?"  
  
Ranma didn't look at the Guide. If that coin was insufficient, she had more. Though sometimes information was even more valued than money, she didn't think the Guide was very well off and could use the cash. "Simple. By having various samples, I'm going to figure out how these things work, then work on either eliminating the curse, or tricking it into seeing my original form as the form I'm to transfer to."  
  
"Sir is very strange," the Guide looked at the coin again and added that at least she was generous.  
  
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"Fighting tournament here, you watch sir, is special honor to win tournament."  
  
Ranma nodded. He'd asked for someplace he could get some food, then lay out the carpet so it would dry. It would take him a few hours to do the check on the carpet's magic, and he wanted to be away from Jusenkyo's influence as much as possible. A quick heating spell on a cup of water changed him back, but it was getting annoying having to do this every couple of miles.  
  
"Amazons..." Ranma smiled at a few pleasant memories. "Well, well. Which of the nine Houses is competing?"  
  
"Sir?" The Guide looked to where Ranma was quite openly admiring the one Amazon fighting a much larger opponent."Sir maybe has wrong group of Amazons?"  
  
The satchel, feeling much abused, thunked into Ranma's leg, then spotted the banquet.  
  
"YOU! WHAT YOU....what in the..." The Champion had come striding over to yell at Ranma, then her mind caught up to what she was seeing. "Excuse me, but your carpetbag over there is eating my prize?!??"  
  
Ranma had just realized what those slurping and crunching noises were. "Oh no... No! Bad Bag!"  
  
"Shampoo, claim the bag as your prize!"  
  
Shampoo was surprised. Mousse had a good idea? "Since your box-with-legs ate most of my prize, I claim it!"  
  
"Out of the question," Ranma said back, glad that his translation ring was at least working. "How about if I pay you for your prize?"  
  
"NO. Want bag... how come your lip synch is off?"  
  
Cologne hopped forward quickly. There was little that could surprise her after all these years. This looked...interesting.   
  
"I'm using magic. Well...if you won't accept payment, and this was your prize, how about if I challenge you for the tournament?"  
  
"You dare!?" Shampoo glared at the arrogance of this man. Even though he DID look cute and seem interesting. To challenge HER.  
  
Cologne smirked. Oh, she was glad she'd attended the Tournament today! She thought to herself that if what she was suspected was true, she'd have to arrange something... special.  
  
Ranma landed lightly on one end of the Challenge Log, Shampoo leapt to the other.   
  
"Fight!" The referee brought her arm down in a slashing motion.  
  
Shampoo raised her bonbori, charging forward.   
  
Ranma considered for less than a second. Fireball, no. Lightning bolt? No, he didn't want to hurt her, just beat her. Flesh to plush? No, she might consider that humiliating. Running out of time, Ranma drove a finger forward, and wove a pattern of Spirit.  
  
The spell hit with a polychromatic sparkle quite visible to the audience, most of whom now made the assumption that the boy had unleashed a chi attack of some kind.  
  
Cologne's eyes widened as Shampoo fell. He WAS a mage! The value to the village of even a median level spellcaster would be inestimable. As the boy was THIS young, he'd be valuable as a member OR as an ally of the tribe later. She'd marry him to half a dozen Amazons if that was what it took to get him into the village, but maybe Shampoo would be enough.   
  
In the ensuing silence, a very kawaii voice started singing from where Shampoo was lying on the ground. It broke off into giggling a moment later.  
  
Maybe not, concluded Cologne. It looked like Shampoo had gone from completely sober to absolutely drunk in very short order. Cologne doubted Shampoo could even get up to give the Kiss Of Marriage. What a disgrace.  
  
The giggling died down, only to be replaced with a light snoring noise. Cologne's eyes met six others in the crowd, then nodded.  
  
"Avenge Shampoo!"  
  
Cologne's eyes widened. THAT wasn't the signal she'd given. It hadn't even come from one of her common agents. Mousse...  
  
The mage, being a mage, did the sensible thing and fled. Shampoo awoke, three hours later, and was in for the tongue lashing of her life in front of the village. The disgrace   
could only be repaired in one manner. She had to come back with that man as her husband. She didn't have to PHYSICALLY stay in the village, as marrying the mage would make him a part of it no matter where they were.  
  
The magical display, walking satchel, and odd lip-synch, had not gone unnoticed. Even before Shampoo left, various other Elders wanted to one-up the Matriarch and so sent their own prodigies out on similar missions.  
  
-------------------  
  
Ranma was drying his carpet and checking over his spells when he felt his wards go off. The spell, a full ritual incantation, slammed into the intruder a moment later.  
  
Two hours later, Ranma finished checking up on the carpet, and inspected the campsite.  
  
When he found the cute little plush doll with the purple hair, Ranma sighed, put it in his satchel for the time being, and decided to get some rest.(1)  
  
After seeing Shampoo shrink down into a plush toy, none of the other Amazons decided to bother him that night.  
  
In the morning, there was the sight of the man on a flying carpet, heading due East. If it weren't for Tigar they wouldn't have been able to track him at all.  
  
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March 6, 1992  
Ranma checked the magic compass. It was pointing at the young girl who was having so much trouble with the groceries. A faint glamourie, he decided, just enough to make him seem less of a stranger...  
  
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"Excuse me, miss. You look like you're having a little problem there, may I help?"  
  
Kasumi shifted the bags slightly, turned to politely decline the offer, and abruptly forgot what she was going to say. Her train of thought had not merely derailed, it had gone through the station and was heading for the cliffs beyond.  
  
He was a few inches taller than her, built in a lean but quite muscular manner, with hair bound back in a pony tail that reached his mid back. Her eyes picked up the subtle fabrics of his odd clothing. They looked durable, but were as finely woven and looked as soft as silk. They showed off his frame quite nicely.  
  
"Eh, uh, ah," Kasumi managed, drawn instantly into those eyes that seemed full of hidden wisdom and strength. "I...yes."  
  
There was a brief puzzled frown, but the man took the extra bags from her effortlessly, and added them to the burden he already carried. He spoke to her again, the same deep rich baritone that sent a wave of weakness through her.  
  
"Are you all right, miss...?"  
  
"Ka-ka-Kasumi. Tendo. Yes, that's it, Kasumi Tendo." Kasumi blushed, she was playing with her fingers and trying not to look in that man's direction again. She hadn't even realized at this point that she'd handed all of the groceries to this stranger, and her purse.  
  
The stranger just blinked a few times as if trying to figure something out. "Well, my name is Ranma. If you don't mind, why don't you show me where you'd like these taken."  
  
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Watching the woman continue to dart looks his way and blush (very prettily he couldn't help but notice) Ranma reviewed the glamourie he'd cast but couldn't see how it would produce anywhere near this level of effect. It had been a simple low-power casting that should have just given him a slightly familiar look.  
  
Either he had gotten something wrong (possible but unlikely), or this woman had been in just the right frame of mind to leave her unusually receptive to such a thing. In the former case, it would wear off shortly. If the latter, there wasn't much he could do about it.  
  
He caught her looking at him again, shyly. The slim smile, the faint blush, the way she turned her head down and started studying her hands as she walked into a utility pole...  
  
Sighing, Ranma the mage put everything down and rummaged in his satchel for a healing potion.  
  
-------------------  
  
Akane stopped. There was her sister, laying on the ground. Some strange man was putting a bunch of groceries down,then reaching into some sort of suitcase and pulling out a vial.  
  
She'd seen this last week on "City Hunter" - slavers who took innocent girls to Hong Kong slave pens, never to be seen again. Well, he'd just picked the wrong girl to attack!  
  
"Hold it, you! Leave her alone!"  
  
The man looked up and smiled at her. "Hello. I was helping Tendo-san with the..."  
  
He was interrupted by Akane's punch, which staggered the man as if he wasn't expecting it.  
  
"Get away from her!" Akane watched the man pick himself up and launched herself at him again.  
  
"Be ye grasped in Morpheus' grip,  
Into peaceful slumber slip."  
  
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Ranma had no idea who this was, or why she was attacking him. He did notice that she had a pretty good punch. He caught her before she hit the pavement.  
  
Now what? He decided he couldn't just leave her on the street, but had no desire to get hit again. He summoned magical forces again and wove a different pattern. (2)  
  
She'd wake up soon enough, and Ranma had no intention of being there when she did.  
  
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"Tadaima!" Kasumi brightly announced.  
  
Ranma noted that she kicked her shoes off onto the concrete area just before the wooden floor, and followed suit. He vaguely remembered something like that but was wondering how much he'd have to relearn.  
  
She led him through into a kitchen and started putting groceries away with the efficiency  
of long practice.  
  
"Yo, sis. HeLLLO!" (3)  
  
Ranma found someone new scrutinizing him. He hadn't felt like a piece of meat being graded to this extent since he'd last visited one of the Delphins barracks...  
  
"Oh, Nabiki, this nice man offered to take me. I mean, my packages, home."  
  
This penetrated Nabiki's assessment of the man and she took a good look at her sister.  
  
Slight flush: check.   
  
Unconsciously nibbling on her lower lip as she stared at her new "friend": check.  
  
Kept constantly checking to see he was still there and hadn't mysteriously vanished: check.  
  
Fretting with her hair: check.  
  
Just put the milk in the cupboard and the canned veggies in the fridge: check.  
  
Guy who looked like a male supermodel and was helping her to put away groceries: check.  
  
Nabiki always took pride in her math skills, her grades were much higher than Akane's or even Kasumi's old grades in the subject. She was quickly able to determine the equation and carry it out.  
  
With a sigh of disappointment, but a feeling of happiness for her sister, Nabiki gracefully picked up the receipt, and retreated back to her room.  
  
A little hint of mischief showed as she turned back at the last moment. "Oh, sis?"  
  
"Yes, Nabiki," Kasumi's blush returned with a vengeance when her fingers brushed Ranma's. She kept her knees from buckling by sheer dint of will.  
  
"Nice catch."  
  
"Nabiki!" Kasumi frowned slightly at the curtain then noticed the scrutiny from her new friend. "Oh...my."  
  
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Soun passed his daughter, wondering why Nabiki was snickering, and was about to ask when dinner would be ready when he noticed the stranger.  
  
Ki level: very high, but no hint of a battle aura  
Overall build: strong, wiry frame.  
Stance: relaxed, confident  
Specifics: tightness at knuckles, evidence of quiet strength, deep tanlines, hair bleached slightly by exposure to outdoors conditions, moves with fluid graceful motions.  
Assessment: median level martial artist with an unusually high ki level. No evidence of hostility.(4)  
  
"Well, well," Soun said aloud. "Who do we have here? A new boyfriend, Kasumi?"  
  
Nabiki chortling out in the hall would have been sufficient answer even if he hadn't   
caught Kasumi looking nervously at the young man trying to gauge his reaction.  
  
"I was just trying to find my way home when I noticed Kasumi here having some difficulty,  
that's all."  
  
Soun noticed Kasumi's disappointed look. So did the stranger. He turned a smile on Kasumi that seemed to reassure her slightly.  
  
"Lost, eh? Tokyo's gotten pretty crowded lately."  
  
"Yes. Say, maybe you know where I can find the Saotome residence?"  
  
Soun Tendo twitched. No, it couldn't be. This young man was too old, too weathered. "Sa-Saotome? What would be...your father's name?"  
  
Ranma noticed the reaction and frowned. "Genma Saotome. Don't tell me he stole food from you."  
  
Soun fainted.  
  
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(1)- Yes, Ranma forgets entirely about her until much later.  
No, this is not the end of Shampoo. Yes, she does get  
turned back. It isn't that type, but can't you just picture  
pulling a string and getting "Airen!" "Shampoo no like  
this game." "Man who play with woman's heart go very  
bad place." or "You no wants to mess with amazon woman."  
  
(2)- No, it wasn't that kind of spell you hentai! She wakes  
up, feeling quite refreshed, and realizes that her sister  
and that man are gone! Oh no! Her sister is no doubt  
chained up inside the hold of a ship bound for China,  
disguised as a mannequin...but they left her?! How dare  
they! Hmmmph.  
  
(3)- This Ranma didn't suffer from poor nutrition on that  
training trip. What, you think Genma got Ranma well  
balanced meals with all his vitamins? This Ranma ate  
well, had magical healthcare, lots of training, etc. He's  
even had enchantments on him that not only increase  
his ki, but have enhanced his development. Yes, some  
of this DOES carry over to his other form. He's taller,  
filled out more, better built, and is practically radiating  
healthy sensuality, a calm and quiet strength, and   
confidence. In other words, he didn't need the glamourie  
as far as Kasumi was concerned.  
Nabiki, on the other hand, wouldn't exactly turn him  
down if Kasumi couldn't "land him" and she's not exactly  
sure how close the two are. If Kasumi catches him, well  
she figures it's about time Kasumi had someone.  
  
(4)- While Soun Tendo is ridiculously manic-depressive, that  
doesn't necessarily mean he's a total wimp or doesn't know  
anything about his Art.   
  
-==========================  
  
Different Art chapter 1, part B  
  
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"Revenge is a dish best served cold." - Genghis Khan  
  
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Ranma, Kasumi, and a moment later, Nabiki all looked down at the passed out figure of Soun Tendo and wondered what this meant.  
  
Ranma snapped his fingers and his carpetbag immediately waddled into the room.  
  
This brought stares from both Kasumi and Nabiki, who were understandably concerned about luggage moving around under its own power.  
  
"Uhm, Ranma?"  
  
"Yes, Nabiki?"  
  
"Your luggage has legs?"  
  
"Yes, Nabiki. Don't worry. It's housebroken."  
  
"Uh-huh." Nabiki flopped down in her chair and stared at the man. "Is it robotics of some sort?"  
  
"Hmmm?" Ranma opened the carpetbag and thrust the length of his arm into it. That his arm was considerably longer than the height of the bag was not lost on either of the Tendo sisters present. "Oh, no. Nothing like that. It's just magic."  
  
"There's no such thing as magic," Nabiki said, though her eyes weren't moving from the odd bag.  
  
"Magic is just doing something that the other guy doesn't know how to do. Does your father faint very often?"  
  
"No," Kasumi said in a quiet voice, not entirely sure how to handle that the nice young man she'd met earlier was now doing the impossible and acting as if it were commonplace. "He's very emotional, but he generally doesn't collapse like that."  
  
Nabiki conquered her fear enough to approach the bag.  
  
"Bag, behave yourself. This is Nabiki, she's a friend." Ranma turned back to waving a metal tube under Soun's nose, and was rewarded with a groan.  
  
Nabiki looked inside and was disappointed to see the apparently empty interior of a normal carpetbag.  
  
"Close your eyes," advised Ranma. "Think of what you want to find and reach inside."  
  
Nabiki blinked, drew in a deep breath, then closed her eyes and shot her hand down into the bag. She felt something settle into her hand and withdrew her arm.  
  
"What is it, Nabiki?" Kasumi looked at the leather pouch that Nabiki had in her hands.  
  
Nabiki was puzzled too until she opened the pouch and looked within. Her eyes shot to the size of dinner plates and her knees nearly buckled.  
  
"Oh, that's just some of my ready cash. You'd be surprised how many times a little of that can make problems go away." Ranma put the vial back in the bag.  
  
Nabiki estimated that the little bag weighed about five pounds. The coins inside were gold and about twice the thickness and size of krugerands. "Uhm, you've got... more... of this?"  
  
"Yeah. A little. Why?"  
  
Nabiki replayed earlier conversations she'd been listening to. He was looking for his home, didn't have a place to stay, eh? "Say, Ranma, you need a place to stay for awhile, don't you? Why not give me one of these coins, and...we can put you up here for a couple of weeks!"  
  
"Well, I don't want to put you out. I *could* use a place, though, I need to do some research and it would be a lot easier with a semi-permanent address. After I've done that, well, I'm supposed to clear my 'karmic backload' before I go back home and try to take the Test for the next level of spell mastery."   
  
Kasumi watched the young man and decided to trust her instincts. He was strange, and he was quite obviously used to dealing with things she wasn't, but the young man she had been speaking with had struck her as being kind and quite honorable. If a bit tempramental and apt to not consider the full repercussions of his actions. "It's no problem, Ranma. We have a spare room you can use."  
  
"Excuse me," Soun managed to get himself up. For once his daughters and he were on the same page, the boy couldn't be allowed to simply disappear again. "Did you say your name is Ranma Saotome, and that your father's name is Genma?"  
  
Ranma nodded. "Yes, and yes. Look, if he stole food from you, I can pay for it."  
  
Ranma abruptly found himself swept up and being crushed in a hug.  
  
"Oh my boy! Your father thought you were dead! The engagement betwen families can take place! Now our two houses can be united! How happy you have made me!" The floodgates briefly opened.  
  
"Excuse me?" Nabiki blinked. Where had THIS plot twist come from?  
  
"Oh goodness," Kasumi said with a blush. There was no doubt in her mind who her father would pair up this tall stranger with. (Maybe I ought to get Mother's wedding kimono and air it out...)  
  
"Huh?" Ranma managed, beginning to turn blue.  
  
"Daddy, you might want to turn him loose before he goes back to being dead."  
  
"Oh, sorry." Soun released Ranma, who immediately started gasping to get air back into his lungs.  
  
-------------------------  
  
A few minutes later, everyone was sitting around the dining room table after a number of explanations had been given.  
  
"So," summed up Soun, "we promised each other that the two schools and our families would be united by marriage."  
  
"I...see..." Ranma was more than a little shocked by this. He caught the way the two girls were watching him and made an effort to control his reaction. He couldn't help but notice that Kasumi was back to studying her hands and Nabiki was giving him a purely speculative look. He could almost see the wheels turning in the younger girl's mind. "I'm afraid that if you're looking to unite the two schools of martial arts, that I'm not really that skilled at HTH fighting. I know the basics, but most of my time has been spent studying spellcraft."  
  
"That's not as important as that you are here," Soun declared firmly if a bit wetly. "So all you have to do is pick which of my three daughters will be your new fiancee!"   
  
"Oh my, that's right. Akane should have been home by now." Kasumi spent a few moments worrying about Akane before deciding it was just as well. Akane didn't like boys very much, and might have given this young man the wrong impression. Besides, Akane could take care of herself.  
  
"Well, she's not, Kasumi. Her loss. Say, Ranma, you said you know magic, right? Could you show us a little something?" Nabiki was really hoping to spot potential profit-making skills in her soon-to-be brother-in-law.  
  
Ranma blinked. "Okay, I suppose. What would you like?"  
  
"Say," Nabiki seemed to be in deep thought, "oh, something like turning lead into gold? Producing money out of thin air? How about using magic to influence the stock market?"  
  
"No, sorry. Metal is always tricky to manipulate. The other two are illegal and have serious repercussions." His teachers had impressed upon him Ethical Spellcraft, and how just changing base metals into precious ones could cause widespread economic upheaval. Best to keep to simple stuff when possible.  
  
Nabiki blinked. He'd just admitted that he could do all three.  
  
Ranma thought about it. Their reaction to his carpetbag had brought to his attention that they just weren't used to things of a magical nature. Whatever he did had to be completely nonthreatening.   
  
Ranma brightened and stood up. "I know!" He brought his left fist up to be cupped by his right hand, two fingers pointing up. This might also have other uses.   
"Spirits of magic, far and near,  
Enlighten now, make choices clear,  
Reveal within your shifting light,  
The talent for magic burning bright!"  
  
A brilliant plume of light erupted from Ranma, green/blue flickering. He noted that Soun Tendo had only a fitful blue radiance, while Kasumi had a brilliant white corona and Nabiki had a fiercely burning golden light.  
  
Their reactions were everything he had hoped for. Soun was so overcome by the glowing daughters he didn't even notice that his own power rating was poor.  
  
"So," Nabiki said. "This means I can do magic? Or, no, that I have the potential? Why is my coloration different from yours, and Kasumi is different from both of us?" Nabiki smiled at the golden aura swirling with patterns around her. The glow made her skin and nails look as if they were cast of gold, and Nabiki was finding it quite fascinating.  
  
"Oh my." Kasumi was rather taken with the warm glow that surrounded her.  
  
"Inner nature shapes what forces you can tap into the easiest. Kasumi looks to be best at healing and what is generally referred to as 'white magic.' You, Nabiki, look to be best at 'divination' or information-gathering magic. The patterns shown indicate that you have no actual training in the Art."  
  
The sound of a door opening caused Ranma to make a gesture and the brilliant colors stopped.  
  
Akane walked in, and looked relieved when she saw Kasumi. Then her gaze fell on Ranma and her expression became one more suited to the appearance of a slave-ring procurer. "YOU!"  
  
Ranma readied a pattern of Chinese Sorcery(1) that would cloak him in a shield. Whoever this girl was, she had proven herself violent before and he wasn't at all fond of indiscriminately violent people.   
  
"Akane, do you know Ranma?" Kasumi smiled at her younger sister. She had so much energy.  
  
"Know him? I saw him trying to kidnap you earlier!" Akane's glare softened slightly. He'd obviously used a shiatsu attack to knock her out. When she'd come to in that tree, she'd checked but found no evidence of his taking liberties with her. Then had come the horrible realization that this enslaver-of-women had taken her elder sister, but not thought that SHE was worth taking! So Akane had run up a full head of steam based on a set of assumptions and deductions that had little place in reality.  
  
It was just beginning to penetrate to Akane that Kasumi + Being Safe At Home = Guy Isn't A Kidnapper.  
  
Ranma snorted. "Kasumi fell down. I was just getting a healing potion ready."  
  
Nabiki twitched. Healing potions? Again the impression of yen signs floating by, ready to be caught. She gazed at Ranma across the table. She HAD to make sure he didn't simply vanish. Just the one coin she'd gotten as rent money would clear their bills for the month and put them in the black for next month. And he'd treated fifteen pounds of gold as not a big deal!  
  
Nabiki prided herself as being a good judge of character. It was a necessary skill when you made money extorting people, being a bookie, or any number of other ways she went about making sure the house stayed afloat. Ranma was a nice guy, but not one you wanted to cross. Also, from what she had seen so far, if he'd tried to kidnap Kasumi, Kasumi wouldn't be here now.  
  
"I really doubt that, sis," was Nabiki's only comment out loud.  
  
"So which of my daughters will be your new fiancee?" Soun was refusing to be distracted.  
  
"Fiancee? NO! ABSOLUTELY NOT!" Akane glared. So this *was* some sort of trick, she just wasn't sure whose trick or what the end result was supposed to be. Still, she would not allow some pervert boy at her!  
  
"Hmmmm," hmmmed Kasumi, blushing. She had some friends from High School she ought to invite. How to get ahold of them? Traditional Shinto, Western, or one of the "hybrid" ceremonies? Less neck strain out of the Western or a hybrid, usually the bride's headpiece was one of the definite "minuses" in the equation.  
  
"Kasumi would seem the wisest choice," volunteered Nabiki.   
  
Akane stopped. Not her? Kasumi the wisest choice?! That meant Doctor Tofu would be available! "Couldn't agree more." At least until she revealed whatever secret plot was going on, then she could get it thrown out.  
  
Ranma groaned. "Uhm, nothing personal, but why 'unite the two schools' when I'm not a martial artist? I do A Different Art."  
  
Nabiki noted that Ranma wasn't ready for this. On the other hand, Kasumi was quite obviously attracted to the boy and was already nineteen with no prospects. To do this, without putting too much pressure on the boy, that would take careful management. Nabiki took a moment to consider this. Kasumi might make a good match for Ranma. Ranma had a number of talents and was able to pay his own way. If it had been anyone besides Kasumi, Nabiki would have required substantial monies to be paid out.  
  
"Let me suggest a deal here," Nabiki said with a carefully prepared smile.  
  
-----------------  
  
Nabiki intended only to awaken Ranma, that was all. A light knock on the door producing no other reaction, she opened said door with the full expectation of a sleeping Ranma in the guest room. The camera was only present because she thought it would be nice to get a photo of the guy. That was all.  
  
She didn't really expect that the Tendo household's guest room now possessed a second doorway. More, that said doorway wasn't the typical Japanese "slides into the wall" door as was common for closets and the like. No, this was a front door such as one would see on an old house. It would open on the backyard, though from the second floor.  
  
"Uhm, Ranma! Err..." Nabiki watched the door open on its own. Stairs could clearly be seen on the other side.  
  
"Be right there, Tendo-san. I've got a little more work to do. I've disabled the traps and alarms if you want to come on up."  
  
Nabiki smiled a crooked grin. He knew her that well already? Well, she didn't need an engraved invitation. The smile faded slightly as the phrase "traps and alarms" penetrated.  
  
Nabiki slowly made her way up the stairway, arriving at a second door. She estimated that she was halfway across the backyard, and slightly higher than the peak of the roof. If the first door was old-fashioned, this was practically Victorian. Including the knocker, a brass ring held in the mouth of a dragon. This door, as had the first, opened without her touching it. Nabiki stilled the slightly shaky feel in her knees, cursing herself for this sign of weakness, and entered.  
  
Inside, the shakiness of her knees returned. The circular room looked to be of quarried stone, painstakingly fitted together. The ceiling above was a dome, and the floor was smooth rock. Six torches provided illumination, each also marking the "point" of one end of the star inscribed on the floor. Ranma was busy checking something on the floor. "Uhm, how could..."  
  
"Just a second, Tendo-san." Ranma looked up briefly. "I'm checking my inscription to make sure the wards are finished."  
  
Nabiki nodded and continued to inspect the room. "This is kinda like your suitcase being bigger on the inside than the outside, right?"  
  
"Yeah," Ranma answered in a distracted tone. "Dimensional folding. Except Bag is a special case. This is just a stabilized pocket."  
  
"Uh huh. Think you can do my closet later?" Nabiki looked over the torches and noted the lack of smoke.  
  
"Doubling the size, yeah. Not much else. This room's a bit different, it's based on the workshop of a wizard I studied with. Except for the lack of lab equipment." Ranma finished pacing the perimeter of the room. "It'll take a little while but while I've got a forwarding address, I want to study a curse I just picked up and see what it will take to fix it."  
  
"Uhm," said Nabiki, not sure how to handle this. Her weirdness meter had been pegged long ago.  
  
"Anyway, I'm sure you didn't come here just to see me do a set of warding runes."  
  
"First, call me Nabiki." Nabiki had little doubt that Ranma was a *much* better friend than an enemy. Normally she might consider playing various games and proving her mental superiority against a male. She wasn't sure how much of the old stories about wizards were correct, and she didn't think Ranma was a bad sort, but she had no intention of spending ANY time on a lily pad if she could help it. "Second, Kasumi has breakfast ready."  
  
"Ah, good. I'll be right there." Ranma had to admit, he was hungry enough to eat kivaris stew. (An idle moment was spent wondering if there were any of the flying rodents here.) He noted that Nabiki was still fidgeting over by the door. More interesting was that Kasumi had just made her way up the stairs and was standing just behind her sister. "What else do you need, Ten.. I mean Nabiki?"  
  
"How old are you, Ranma?"  
  
Ranma straightened at the unexpected question. That Kasumi had abruptly stopped inspecting the chamber and was now paying close attention to him was also observed and filed. "Uhm, that depends."  
  
"Depends?" Nabiki was expecting an answer, not an indication of lack of knowledge.  
  
"I *think* I was born March 21, 1976. That would make me sixteen as far as my records and such go. When I went to Aramar initially, I was six years old. I spent quite a few Aramarian years learning magic, so I'd be about twenty-two if you went by how many years I've lived. Biologically, though, I'm only about eighteen." Ranma shrugged while trying to read their expressions. "One of the things about some of the training I've done is that your lifespan tends to get extended quite a bit, side effect of channelling large amounts of life energy. And as an Aramarian year is different from what we've got here, it may be even further off."  
  
Kasumi started working this out. He was both younger and older than her. Still...  
  
"Well, I'm done here," Ranma made a final gesture with an engraving tool and the lines of runes briefly erupted in emerald light. "This place is sealed against intruders. Only you two and myself can get in here, or we'd have to bring someone here. Just knock if I'm in the lab."  
  
"Oh," said Kasumi as she turned to lead the way back to the dining area. "What will happen if someone else tries to enter?"  
  
Nabiki left off her own thoughts to pay full attention to this.  
  
"Depends on their intent," Ranma said, his own thoughts mainly on how to properly equip this lab. "Someone who's just trying to sneak in will find that stairway doesn't ever end. They'll be trapped in the loop until one of us frees them. If they're evil or intending me harm, it gets worse. If it's supernatural evil, well, the barriers *should* keep it out."  
  
"There's not much 'supernatural evil' in Nerima, Ranma, I don't think you have anything to worry about." Nabiki proved that one didn't have to be Ranma to be wrong.  
  
Ranma got to the dining area and immediately wondered where the meat was. No bread? No sliced fruit? A pot of green tea (THAT at least was familiar, the Amazons of House Rising Sun swore by the stuff) was simmering. Some sort of soup that had chunks of white stuff in it. And rice, lots of rice. He blinked, noting that Akane and Tendo-san were already sitting there. Akane went to Glare Of Doom mode, while Tendo-san seemed happy about something.  
  
"Not a word, Daddy," cautioned Nabiki. "You know the deal. No pressure, THEY decide."  
  
Soun subsided.  
  
Ranma watched Nabiki eat and started copying her gestures. It had been so long, and the food tasted rather... bland by comparison to what he was used to.  
  
"So, Ranma, if you're registered here as a sixteen year old, I suppose that means you'll have to attend school." Nabiki was thinking about this, once registered and enrolled, he'd be tied to the area for the remainder of the year. "I'll start the paperwork going."  
  
Akane turned a suspicious eye on Nabiki when her sister failed to mention a price.  
  
"Must I?" Ranma hung his head at the thought. Back to school? It might be easier to use spells to falsify a paper trail, though he wasn't even sure what sort of papers he needed at this point.   
  
"So what can you tell us about this place you were staying, Ranma? Where did you learn magic?" Nabiki would transfer the info to paper later.  
  
Kasumi made note of the uncertain look Ranma was giving the food, and wondered if there was something wrong with it.  
  
"The world, or plane if you prefer, is known as Aramar. An ancient word meaning 'nexus'in some language that only survives in fragments." Ranma considered using an enchantment to transform the rice into something which would sit a little longer. No, that would probably be considered impolite. "It's an old world, and quite a bit different from Japan."  
  
"How so?" Kasumi wondered if maybe the eating standards were different.  
  
Ranma considered. "Uhm, easiest to just show you, I suppose.  
"Illusion of past memory,  
Weave the image that they may see.  
The past revealed, show the scene,  
Bring forth What Was to vision keen."  
  
In the circle of Ranma's hands appeared a sphere of light. Images appeared across the surface.  
  
A spiral tower of ivory and brass, standing upon a lone mountain surrounded by thick forest. The forest had an unmistakable sense of age about it.  
  
Elaborate ships, flying through the sky without visible propulsion systems. Some lacked wings, but most resembled animals in their overall design.  
  
Western dragons, one a deep blue and the other a metallic bronze locked in a savage combat that had Kasumi wince from the level of violence. The battle ended with the bronze burying its fangs deep within the neck of the blue.  
  
Western dragons again, this group being shades of bronze, brass, gold, silver, and copper. This group was in some aerial ballet in the skies over an island with some sprawling castle.  
  
A sneering bishonen fellow, dressed in what were obviously wealthy clothes that had bits of lace at the collar and cuffs. In his hands was a bastard sword of dark metal engraved with runes the color of fresh-drawn blood.  
  
Ships, this time on an ocean, huge wooden Western-looking vessels not too different from the ships that had visited Japan a little over one hundred years previously. The viewpoint showed silvery wings as if one was riding some fabulous beast while flying over the fleet.  
  
A short red-bearded fellow, standing with his hands resting on an axe nearly as large as he was. The scowl shifted slightly as he seemed to wink at them before shifting back into the previous mask.  
  
A tall, thin, fellow, dressed entirely in black. He had a smirk that Nabiki found engaging. At his hip, a thin sword that seemed vaguely similar to a European rapier. He brushed his long hair back away from his face as he leaned against a stone column, also revealing delicately pointed ears, then sketched a quick two finger salute towards them before disappearing in a swirl of his cloak.  
  
One of the elaborate ships, this one resembling some fantastic hawk, that was entirely crewed by warrior women. There seemed to be some battle going on involving hulking oni of some kind.  
  
A black armored figure, making its way through the broken and bleeding forms of some of these same warrior women, the dwarf from before racing forward with axe raised to meet him.  
  
A busy marketplace, looking somewhat like a farmer's market with elements of a more modern shopping mall. Nabiki idly commented that other than some of the warrior women, none of those present were human. Many looked near-human, if you could overlook the size or pointed ears or wings or some odd other set of features. Some couldn't pass for human in a deep fog at night.  
  
Ranma drew his hands apart and took a couple of deep breaths as the image-sphere broke apart. "Actually, they aren't precisely human either. No more than the dwarves, or the elves, or the Tarakne, at least. Then there are the halfling races: burrowers, kenku, ottari, caivehi, ogrii, sareni, nymphs, kirani, talf..." Ranma stopped as he noted that he'd lost them.  
  
"Halflings are the ones that look mainly human but have some... odd qualities?" Nabiki postulated as she waited for her hair to settle down from its currently "toinged out" state. Maybe, potential source of income or not, this "Ranma" was too weird for Kasumi?  
  
Kasumi didn't say a thing, still staring at the space that had held all the images. Or was that Ranma's chest since it was in her line of sight?  
  
Akane grumbled. (What a weirdo! What secrets is he hiding?)  
  
"That's right," agreed Ranma to the previous comment. "The burrowers are the short guys with the spiky fur and heavy foreclaws, for example."  
  
Kasumi thought back. Oh yes, those were those cute little hedgehog-people in the marketplace.  
  
Ranma finished eating finally, having lost practice with such odd implements as chopsticks, not to mention the odd foodstuffs. Well, maybe he ought to go along to this school and start the paperwork anyway. It wouldn't do to have the local authorities getting on his case for something that trivial.  
  
-----------------------------  
  
Ranma had watched the crowd gather, had watched Akane wade into her attackers, and had summed up his opinion of the whole thing in a single phrase.  
  
"What kinda idiot came up with this kinda combat training?"  
  
There went a large number of idiots, each getting in each others way (quite deliberately from the look of it), and attempting to subdue Akane with the least amount of force necessary. Because of this, and because they were working against each other, they looked rather pathetic to Ranma. He'd seen tavern brawls that were more graceful and elegant.  
  
Then came out the main villain, or someone who entered in the manner of such. He started in on what Ranma vaguely classified as the usual Villain Rant. (the Ranting villains he liked slightly more than the ones who snuck up on you and stuck a knife in your ribs - the former having at least a veneer of civility.)  
  
Ranma walked past the yelling Akane, the pontificating Kuno, and entered the school. Maybe he could go to a better school if he had to do this school schtick.  
  
-------------------  
  
Ranma sighed, sitting back at the table, and surveyed the lunchroom. He could sum up his opinion of the school, the gossip, the classwork, and the general competency level of the staff in a single word.  
  
Pathetic.  
  
A few minutes into the placement tests, he'd simply triggered a few subtle spells he'd worked out while waiting. He was now (as far as the school administration was concerned), nineteen years old and applying for a job. Having a base of operations would be good, and having access to capital while trying to fix everything sounded good for now.  
  
He couldn't teach most subjects, obviously, but the fight in the morning had given him an idea of a job that needed doing. There *were* classes he could teach. Math was the same, physics were the same, and the mage he'd studied under had not undervalued science.  
  
So, as a teacher's aide (as soon as he could produce the paperwork) and disciplinarian, Ranma Saotome Gallowglass was quite prepared to earn his keep.  
  
"HOLD!" The bokken-wielding maniac from earlier stood in front of Ranma and glared at him.  
  
"Tatewaki Kuno, Junior, Group E, Captain of the Kendo Club, ain't it?"  
  
Kuno blinked. "Yes. Errr. DON'T TRY TO TRICK ME!"  
  
"Wouldn't think of it, you're the son of the absent Principal, the guy who declared that in order to date that Tendo girl, the dater has to beat the crap out of the datee."  
  
"NO! YES! I mean..." Kuno trailed off as he figured the crude language out. "YES!"  
  
"It's disrupting class, Kuno-san. That will no longer be tolerated." Ranma noted that everyone was quiet and paying attention. Good. "I'm up for a teacher's aide position, and may be helping out with a few other odd jobs here. Fighting on the school grounds, outside of school sanctioned activities and one-on-one challenges will cease immediately."  
  
"WHO ARE YOU TO DICTATE TERMS TO THE GREAT TATEWAKI KUNO?!"  
  
"Lose the attitude, dude. Personally, I don't care if you ALL date Akane Tendo. If you challenge her, do it OFF school grounds and AFTER school."  
  
Akane began to growl at the presumption of this boy.  
  
"I see, you are staying under the same roof as Akane Tendo, and are now attempting to steal her away from her one true love."  
  
"No," said Ranma as he waited for it.  
  
"I SHALL NOT TOLERATE THIS!" Kuno drew and struck forward with his bokken.  
  
"Glacial Grip," replied Ranma.  
  
There were screams and squeaks at first. Then, slowly and starting with some of the girls, the applause began.  
  
"Tatewaki Kuno will be in detention today," announced Ranma after the applause had died down. "Miss Tendo, put the table down."  
  
"Do you realize what you've done?!" Akane glowered.  
  
"I've stopped the morning attacks and taken the first step towards making the school an institution of learning and not a battleground," replied Ranma, perfectly composed. "If you want to indulge in some sadomasochistic dating practice, do it after school."  
  
"I DO NOT WANT TO..." Akane stopped as that penetrated. "You're not interfering in my fights?"  
  
"No, knock yourself out if you like. Not during school hours or on school property." Ranma jerked a thumb at the ice pillar. "It may disappoint you, but Kuno-san will not be joining you today."  
  
Akane blinked, then slowly began to smile. "Actually... actually, that sounds rather nice."  
  
--------------------------  
  
"How could you become a TEACHER?!" Akane had waited until they were relatively alone (the dinner table) before getting confrontational. It hadn't taken that long before she realized that being late for school wasn't nearly the problem it had lately become.  
  
That didn't mean she was happy.  
  
"Teacher's aide and a glorified hall monitor. Since I know how to brew healing potions (nothing really powerful but they do the job), I'll also be helping out the school nurse. Did you know the last three left due to the violence level at Furinkan?"  
  
"Actually," Nabiki said drily, still going through the possible repercussions of Ranma working for the school, "one left because she was using prescription drugs without a prescription, one left because Kuno had been latching onto her before he started getting obsessive about Akane, and the third nurse left because of a nervous breakdown."  
  
"Ah," said Ranma after a few minutes.  
  
"Where's Kuno-baby, anyway?"  
  
"He was... uncooperative," Ranma said sadly. "Attacked me during detention. I had to get rough with him."  
  
"What did you do, turn him into a toad?" Akane chuckled at the absurdity, then froze as she considered the idea seriously.  
  
"Nah, too cliche," countered Ranma, "besides he was ready for that sort of thing. I used a 'Power Word Stun' followed by a transformation spell - temporary but it ought to cause him to reconsider his current methods."  
  
------------------------  
  
Tatewaki Kuno stared into the mirror, tugging at the soft firm flesh of his face.  
  
In the mirror, Akane Tendo tugged at her face in exactly the same manner.  
  
Swallowing, Kuno opened the front of his kendo outfit, looked down, and screamed. A moment later, and he had confirmed that his bokken was the only sword he had at the moment.  
  
-------------------------  
  
"You did WHAT?!" Akane twitched.  
  
Nabiki, on the other hand, was rolling on the floor laughing. It took her several seconds to get under control again.  
  
"Took the physical pattern of the girl he's obsessing on, and superimposed it over his own with a specialized transformation spell. It only lasts a few hours. I've worked out a mass way of doing it, so if Akane-san has to face the mob again, they'll ALL get Akanied." His research into his curse was having *some* benefits, besides having this "repel water" spell going all the time.  
  
"How nice," said Kasumi with a nod. Giving all those boys an Akane of their own, this would be their dream come true.  
  
"Yeah, I was trying to work out a way that the spell would remain in place until they stopped thinking about her," Ranma continued, oblivious to the increasing anger level of the youngest Tendo sister, "but it'll take more work. If I prepare everything beforehand, then all I have to do is hit the trigger phrase when ready."  
  
"MY FACE?!" Akane looked a little sick as she pictured what Kuno could well be doing at that very moment. "*MY* BODY?!"  
  
Nabiki smirked, certain that SOMEONE would get hit with that tomorrow. Then she could sell the former boys details on the spell, as well as proper attire and booklets on "how to". Heh. After a few hours walking (literally) in her sister's shoes, they'd likely be a lot more respectful of women in general. Nabiki's smirk intensified as she considered the pecuinary possibilities inherent in such a setup.  
  
"That's *disgusting*," said Akane, still focussed on what she suspected was happening in Tatewaki Kuno's bedroom at the moment. "DIE PERVERT!"  
  
Ranma didn't understand that, but noted that the spellward he'd placed earlier went off as he had planned. He'd been expecting it to be used against the "Horde Of Hentai" however. He was just grateful he hadn't switched it to the "Akane-itis" spell.  
  
"Wan? Wan? WAN! WAN!" The puppy dog was (literally) hopping mad now. At least she was once she got out of the pile of clothing.  
  
"It's temporary, Akane-san, just don't go near any Chinese restaurants for the next couple of hours." Ah, he could remember the times in his Master's tower when he'd gotten transformed into something for falling asleep during one of the Master's lectures.  
  
"WANWAN! WANWANWAN!"  
  
"Oh how cute!" Kasumi swept the little puppy dog up into her arms.  
  
The puppy (a reddish Akita) whined a little at the thought of being a cuddle toy for the next two hours.  
  
Nabiki snickered briefly, then got a truly mischievous gleam in her eyes that caused the puppy a little panic. "Well, now, Akane. You want to go for a walk? Play ball?"  
  
"Maybe I could find a squeak toy," said Kasumi thoughtfully. "I may have a soup bone."  
  
Akane growled at Nabiki, followed by a betrayed look at Kasumi.  
  
"Like I said, Akane-san, the spell will run its course in two hours." A bit of mischief showed itself as he seemed to think about something. "Unless, of course, you think impure thoughts."  
  
Akane let out a questioning whine.  
  
"Oh, you know, get angry or plot revenge. In that case, it'll get longer."  
  
The puppy fainted. Kasumi tucked the cute little puppy in Akane's bed. Nabiki took a number of photographs.  
  
Two hours later, Kasumi checked in to find Akane was human again, though whimpering in her sleep and one of her legs was twitching.  
  
------------------  
  
Akane woke, scratched herself behind the ear, and grumbled about the weird dreams she had been having. Well, she was back to being human again, and she'd get even with that damn Ranma. She ran downstairs, ready to confront him when she noticed her father and Kasumi staring.  
  
"Akane! Your clothes!"  
  
Akane eeeped and went off to find her clothing. And who had tied a little pink ribbon around her neck?  
  
Slamming open the bedroom door, Akane stalked into Ranma's room and noted the doorway on the far wall. Opening that, she started stomping up the stairs, completely focussed on letting Ranma know how displeased she was with spending the night as a dog. Dreaming about getting groomed, about Nabiki taking her to dog shows, about chasing rabbits, about Kasumi feeding her "Kibbles and Bits" and scratching her behind the ears, about sleeping all warm and cozy in someone else's bed - as a cuddle toy!  
  
"AKANE TENDO! MY LOVE!"  
  
Feeling a shiver, Akane looked behind her. Rushing forward, flowers in their hands, had to be at least fifty amorous looking Kunos.  
  
Shrieking in horror, Akane started running up the stairs.  
  
---------------------  
  
Kasumi stuck her head through the open doorway but could not see Akane anywhere on the stairway. A little timidly, she went up the stairs and knocked on the door.  
  
"Hang on," came Ranma's voice. "I've got some delicate setup to do."  
  
"When you're done, breakfast is ready." Kasumi paused, how to put this delicately? "Also, Akane is missing, have you seen her?"  
  
"Hmmmm. No. I'll be down in a minute." Ranma's voice was distracted. "Bag is being stubborn."  
  
-----------------------  
  
Nabiki waited patiently for her time to strike. Kasumi left, followed by Ranma. Now it was *her* chance.  
  
Stealth was a skill Nabiki Tendo had in plenty, and she utilized it to her full extent. Sneaking up the stairs without a sound she was able to enter the room, as promised, without any problems she could perceive.  
  
The room had changed slightly, as Nabiki had hoped. Now there was some sort of lab apparatus set up against one side of the room, and another held the very sort of treasure she'd most hoped for.  
  
Books. Books, Nabiki knew, held information. Not only was the information within them valuable, just the sort of books Ranma had would indicate what he was up to. Had, as Akane had suggested, Ranma thrown some sort of spell over them? Could he in fact be some sort of manipulative monster out for nefarious purpose? (Nabiki was almost hoping he was, just to get back in control of life. Also, if he *was* some sort of Svengali, then she could steal from him without so much as a twinge of conscience.)  
  
Upon seeing the books up close, Nabiki cursed her own stupidity. OF COURSE they wouldn't be in Japanese! Though the longer she stared at them, the more the odd lettering seemed to make an odd sort of sense.  
  
Turning her eyes from the books, she found a small circle drawn in chalk around an oddly designed bottle. Upon seeing this, she knew her answers were at last at hand.  
  
"Do Not Open Until Armaggedon" proclaimed one sign. The engraved words on the bottle itself were "Bottled Demon." Thin silver chains bound the stopper to the bottle. The room itself was a Seal Of Solomon, and here this bottle was in the center of ANOTHER Seal.  
  
"Subtle, Saotome. Real subtle." Nabiki looked over the bottle and noticed the wax seal had runes of some sort engraved upon it. (The bottle is harmless. The bottle contains the answers. The bottle contains treasure. You want to open the bottle.)  
  
Nabiki shook her head. Why had she referred to herself as 'you' in her thinking? Nabiki picked up the bottle, noting that it was sufficiently opaque that she couldn't tell what was in it. (Surely just a little peek wouldn't hurt?)  
  
Nabiki's hand grasped the bottle's stopper and again she stopped momentarily. Shrugging, she removed the stopper, after all, what could it hurt?  
  
----------------------  
  
The door slamming shut wasn't the only alarm.  
  
The loud clanging as of some great watchbell being struck was a further clue.  
  
Ranma yelling an obscenity (in Hobgoblin, a language built for obscenities) and diving away from the breakfast table was another. There was still food on the table, after all, and Ranma voluntarily leaving a meal before finishing was another Sign Of The Apocalypse.  
  
Kasumi and Soun, curious, followed.  
  
---------------  
  
Akane screamed inside her head. Her face however smiled and gazed lovingly at the boy in the tuxedo next to her. The priest began to pour the sake, and within a few minutes, Akane Tendo would cease to be. Akane Kuno would be the loving and dutiful wife of her husband Tatewaki. Forever after. Tatewaki whispered to her about his plans for the night, when she would fully become a woman.  
  
The sake cup was raised to her lips.  
  
A hand grabbed her and pulled her out of the scene.  
  
"What were you doing in there?" Ranma demanded of Akane.  
  
Akane blinked, realizing that she was in the guest room. Her father was weeping, and Kasumi looked somewhat concerned. "I... I..."  
  
"That was the Room Of Greatest Personal Horror," noted Ranma as he closed the door again. "You must have intended me harm. Well, we don't have time for this now."  
  
"I... I..." Akane staggered to the window and managed to open it before getting ill.  
  
"What's going on, Ranma? Please tell me."  
  
Iron conviction melted before brown eyes. "Aw crap. Okay. I picked up a curse in China. I had a spell worked out that should have transferred the curse to a demon."  
  
"A DEMON!? IN MY HOUSE?!"  
  
"Keep your shirt on, Tendo-san. I figured if anyone deserved a curse, it was a demon. So I'm trying to figure out how to transfer the curse, so I pull the demon's bottle out and set it up in a protection circle. This particular demon is one that's caused me trouble in the past, so I've held his prison until I find a way to crush the little bugger once and for all."  
  
"Have you?"  
  
"Yeah, I think so. Problem is, there's a fifty-fifty chance it'll just smash the prison so I ain't done it." Ranma frowned as he contemplated the door. "There's no way it could have broken free on its own, I used a Level Three binding on a Level Seven demon. So Ratsfahr had help, but from whom?"  
  
Kasumi blinked. "Where's Nabiki?"  
  
-----------------------  
  
Nabiki watched IT start to come shooting out of the bottle and did her best to shove the stopper back in. The pain in her hands and the pressure forcing itself out were sufficient to keep her from doing so until after a solid hand belted her halfway across the room.  
  
"Free. Free at last to ravage and pillage and kill." The voice was deep and had an odd echo quality to it.  
  
Nabiki scrambled back to her feet to behold... a middle-aged Japanese businessman, well off from the look of him.  
  
"Free to conquer the mortal worms of this world and to glut myself on their fear and suffering," the businessman said with a chuckle. "Now, where to start?"  
  
"You're a demon?" Nabiki cleared her throat and repeated the question after the first attempt had come out as a squeak.   
  
"Hmmm? Oh, you were expecting the horns and batwings?" The businessman seemed to shrug and was now a four-armed nine-foot-tall batwinged monstrosity who was anatomically correct but had thorn-shaped barbs in all sorts of odd places. "Better? I use a near human form when working undercover, and it took up less space in that damn bottle. Hmmm. A bedslave, I think."  
  
"Excuse me?!" Nabiki looked at the thing, and attempted to merge with the stone behind her. Maybe she could just casually edge her way to the stairwell.  
  
"You'd make a fair bedslave, I think," the demon said, a thin trail of greenish yellow drool extending from his snout. "And it HAS been awhile."  
  
"Uhm, I'll pass, actually. You're not my type."  
  
"Who said anything about giving you a choice?" The demon's tongue, a long ropy thing that split into three tentacles, caught the trail of drool. "But I suppose I can give you a wish as repayment for freeing me and dooming your world. It's just too amusing to play these games."  
  
"I wish you'd go back into that bottle." Nabiki edged a little closer to the door.  
  
"Not likely, my pretty little bedslave. Try again."  
  
"I wish that bottle had been the kind holding a genie slave like in the stories."  
  
"Hmmmm. Well, there are other bedslaves to be taken. Ratsfahrt, Demon Seventh Class of Magical Mishaps, grants your wish."  
  
Nabiki screamed, feeling herself turning to mist and drawn within the bottle. The stopper, altered slightly now, fitted itself into place.  
  
Ratsfahrt picked the bottle up, now noting that the label had changed. "In there, you can see and here what's going on outside even if you can't affect or communicate anything outside your prison. This is a sort of 'genie slave' deal, though you won't have any great magical powers. No, you'll simply become the magical bedslave of whoever opens the bottle. I'll just go out and conquer your world, then come back and open your bottle. You ought to be done by then."  
  
Putting the "Bottled Bedslave" bottle on the shelf, Ratsfahrt got a better look at the room he was in.  
  
"Seal Of Solomon? Hmmmm. It'll take me awhile to beat through that. Maybe if I..."  
  
"Hello, Rattie."  
  
"RANMA!" The demon growled and flexed his wings. "At last. I shall flay your flesh, devour your soul, and make windchimes out of your bones."  
  
Ranma closed the door behind him, only to be pushed aside as someone shoved her way through.   
  
"I can help! I'm a martial artist, you know!" Akane glowered at the boy who apparently thought she was weak or fragile and needed protecting. Then her eyes caught the demon. "EEEEP!" Akane especially caught the lack of clothing and long twitching tentacle of the beast.  
  
"You brought me a snack?" The demon licked its lips as he looked over the wench in front of him. "How nice, I was just wondering where I'd get a new bedslave, and here one is delivered."  
  
"HENTAI!"  
  
The demon looked puzzled. Where had that mallet come from?  
  
"PERVERT!" WHACK! "HENTAI!" THUD! "ETCHI!" WHAM!   
  
Ranma's jaw dropped slightly but he recovered and broke into a grin. He hadn't expected Tendo-san to be effective against a demon.  
  
"Ouch, hey! Watch it! How dare you strike... Cut it out! eeeEEEEEEP!"  
  
Ranma conjured a baseball bat, handing it off to Akane after she tried unsuccessfully to free her mallet from where it had gotten lodged.  
  
"DIE, PERVERT!" WHAM! THUD! SLAM! HIT! CRUNCH! WHACK! BAM!  
  
"Nice form," said Ranma as he watched the demon getting beaten on. "Looks like the Seal Of Solomon's weakening him enough that normal attacks can damage him."  
  
"Hmmm?"  
  
"Oh, don't let me distract you, Tendo-san. Carry on."  
  
"HEY!"  
  
"Thank you, Saotome-kun!" CRASH! BATTER! BEAT! WHACK-UM!  
  
"Mercy... Owie..."  
  
"Like you showed mercy to those girls from Delin's Village? How many girls have you raped and killed, Rattie?" Ranma started the spell as subtly as he could.  
  
"Ouch! Hey, a demon's gotta do OW! what a demon's gotta do. Besides, they loved every minute of it!"  
  
"HENTAI!" Akane found her outrage pushing her power levels up to new heights. "You... ENEMY OF ALL WOMEN!"  
  
"You know me?" Ratsfahrt was slightly flattered. Then flattened.  
  
Throwing the useless halves of the baseball bat aside, Akane was in her element. "It is a martial artist's DUTY to pummel perverts!"   
  
"EEEEEEEK!"   
  
STOMP! KICK! PUNCH! SNAP!   
  
"ENOUGH!" The demon slammed out with a taloned hand and knocked Akane across the floor. "Damn stupid creature! Acid Spray!"  
  
Ranma finished the preparations, and held the sphere of white energy in his hands. "Excuse me, Tendo-san!" The sphere shot across the room, struck the demon, and both began disintegrating. "I'll bring a healing potion in a moment."  
  
Akane clenched her teeth against the pain, her arm and side smouldering from the demon's counterattack. She felt her mouth forced open, then liquid that tasted of mint being forced into her mouth. She tried to gag, only her mouth was now being held closed and her throat stroked until she swallowed. Immediately the pain receded.  
  
"That..." Akane's eyes widened slightly as the burns receded.  
  
"Healing potion. Thank you, Tendo-san, that was quite impressive."  
  
It began to penetrate. She'd fought a monster. Not a pervert boy like those fools who tried to mug her, not an idiot like Kuno, not a white slaver. A real live monster. And she'd been kicking its butt! Akane fainted but she had a grin on her face that would have required surgery to remove.  
  
Ranma carried Akane down the stairs. Where was Nabiki, anyway?  
  
-----------------  
  
"Maybe she's just already at school?"  
  
"I dunno, Kasumi. I'll look more once I get back. I gotta help out Mister Kunakida at the school library today. Oh, and I'll be helping Tatsuya-san with some kinda test today too, so I might be a little late."  
  
Akane glared over at Ranma. "We will discuss this later, Ranma."  
  
Soun merely nodded and continued reading his newspaper. "Hmmm. Rice futures are up."  
  
"Well, I'm gone. Dimension Door." Ranma bamfed and was gone.  
  
Akane blinked. "That BAKA! The least he could have done is take me. It's HIS fault I'm going to be late."  
  
"Akane, 'you catch more flies with honey than vinegar', you know."  
  
Akane gave her sister a puzzled look. "Why would I want to catch flies, Kasumi?"  
  
Kasumi sighed and noted that Bag was eating Soun's discarded newspapers. Well, at least the little carpetbag was clean. "Shouldn't you be going to school, Akane?"  
  
"AAAH! I'm *really* late now!"  
  
The carpetbag coughed as an article went down the wrong way, eventually spitting up a small plush doll.  
  
Kasumi smiled and picked the cute little doll up. How nice, no doubt some souvenier from Ranma's travels. She'd just clean it up a little bit and give it to him around supper.  
  
----------------------  
  
Several things occurred while Ranma was discovering the joys of grading papers and demonstrated the use of a Ray Of Enfeeblement upon one Tatewaki Kuno:  
  
In a bottle upon a bookshelf, Nabiki slumped against the glass wall of her enclosure and wondered what the heck she'd do if she were stuck here for any length of time. Other than go crazy from sheer boredom. And why was she getting so turned on?  
  
A number of Amazons got on a ship that was supposedly heading for Japan. After the Captain announced that they were all about to be sent to slave pens in Thailand, there was a sudden and violent change of personnel on the ship. Unfortunately, with all of those actually able to sail the ship ejected into the Sea Of Japan, the little vessel proceeded to get thoroughly lost.  
  
Kasumi set the little plushie down as she worked in the kitchen, and found herself talking to the doll. There had been a little tear in the doll's clothes, quickly mended, and bits of grass in the silky purple hair. It was odd, but Kasumi almost felt as if the doll were grateful.  
  
Akane arrived late at school, but found that Ranma had already arranged an excuse. Fighting demonic entities bent on world domination was a bit odd, but deemed suitable reason to be a little late in arriving for homeroom. As long as she made up the time later, that is.  
  
The Amazon Village, Nichieju, was repairing the damage from the foppish figure that had come through. Said person, finding himself challenged, had gone to the children's playground and cast a spell stating that if they surrendered his mortal enemy to him, he would turn all the cute little kitties and puppies and itty bitty monsters back into kids. Upon being told that Ranma was not there, the mage conjured up a stampede of elephants and left. WITHOUT undoing the spell he'd cast earlier. So the village currently had a lot of kitties, puppies, alien critters, and elephants. Most of the damage was from, unsurprisingly, the elephants. The Amazons had plans on what to do if this male returned to the village, marriage not being on the list. The ones who had to clean up over twelve tons of elephant "poop" were only slightly more vulgar in their suggestions than the ones whose children were now requiring flea powder.  
  
A seller of okonomiyaki, planning a move to Tokyo, looked out the school window. Genma had related how his son had died in the mountains when she had run across him in Azabu Juuban. How could she have missed such an obvious tactic like dialing Information and asking for Genma Saotome? (There were only three in all of Japan.) Genma had finally confessed to his wife about the loss of his son, and had still been recovering from her displeasure at that to be confronted with the dowry theft. They'd replaced the dowry, but it just felt as if there was something missing from her life. (Maybe Nerima. The Furinkan district has low rent...)  
  
Some students learned that annoying the new Teacher's Aide at Furinkan was not a particularly good idea as the boy had a bit of a temper. Forty seven Akane Tendos were running around school that day, not counting the six baka hentai who had been found getting quite etchi and had been promptly hit with a Curse Of Compulsive Tidiness.  
  
Ryoga Hibiki got lost, but he wasn't that unhappy with it. What *did* bother him was that boy Ukyo Kuonji. How dare the boy ignore his requests for food! He'd pay for the previous meals as soon as he got some money. Maybe what was needed was a challenge, a duel! Yes, that would do it, for the insult of the bad credit - Ukyo Kuonji would pay!  
  
Shampoo had awoken to find herself lying, still a helpless doll, in some odd living room. Then some gigantic Japanese woman picked her up, repaired a rip in her clothing, brushed her hair out, and set her in the kitchen where she could watch someone doing something. Fears swept through the Amazon. What if dogs or children found her while she was like this? She couldn't move or blink, much less defend herself! She found herself enormously grateful for the giant, though she couldn't understand most of what this woman was saying. It beat all that time she'd been lying out on the grass, or even the short time she had been in that room.  
  
----------------  
  
Soun finally thought about it, got the number from Information, and called an old friend.  
  
"Hai, moshi moshi. Saotome-ke."  
  
"Genma Saotome, please." Soun grinned as he thought about the engagement. Soon the houses would be joined!  
  
There was a sigh, as of someone long suffering. "Genma is out on a training journey with his daughter. What did he do *now*?"  
  
"A 'daughter?' Well, he hasn't done anything LATELY."  
  
"Let me guess. He engaged his daughter to your son? You've had cats turn up missing? There's some bills you need to take care of? Engaged his son to your daughter? Engaged his daughter to your daughter?"  
  
"Uhm, no..." Soun wondered exactly what Saotome had been up to over the years since he had reported his son's death. "I just wanted to report that his son had turned up. Not dead."  
  
There was a long pause. "What is the name of this 'son'?"  
  
"Ranma Saotome, he indicated that he got lost and not killed."  
  
The woman's voice went from suffering to eager. "Who is this? Where is he? Is he... manly? Is he well?"  
  
"I take it this is Mrs Saotome?" Upon hearing an assent, he continued. "This is Soun Tendo. Ranma is currently at Furinkan High School, though he is staying here at the Tendo dojo. Yes, I think...."  
  
"Give the address, please. I'll be right there."  
  
---------------------  
  
Ranma pulled a hat out of his pocket and cast "Monster Summoning" with a gesture. "Hey Rocky, watch me pull a rabbit out of my hat."  
  
Mists formed, and a creature stepped out to regard Tatewaki Kuno with cold eyes.  
  
"Hah! Summon all the allies you want, they shall all fall before the might of the Blue Thunder!"  
  
The little furry fellow just waited, breathing deeply as he regarded Kuno. "A-ni-mal." (1)  
  
"Yes, you are a pathetic little beast. I shall smite thee and then the sorceror that summoned thee, then go on to date with the tidy and pure Akane Tendo!"  
  
"Urrr?"  
  
"HAVE AT THEE, FOUL GAIJIN BEAST!"  
  
"Urk? SMITE! Hahahahaha." GRAB, FOLD, SPINDLE, MUTILATE, STUFF  
  
Ranma went back to grading papers. Animal vanished. Tatewaki Kuno's feet twitched and he pondered how a six foot tall samurai had been stuffed into a three foot tall waste basket. Surely this was the Darkest of Sorceries!  
  
-----------------------   
  
Ranma's first task was to find Nabiki. Under Akane and Kasumi's watchful eye, he used the same sort of Pathfinder enchantment he'd used to find his way here.  
"Powers of light, hear as I ask,  
Guide me on this simple task,  
Where I must go, what I must do.  
Nabiki's location show me true,  
This I ask as boon from you."  
  
The light touched his bookshelf. The light touched a bottle on his bookshelf. Akane was the first to the bottle, but the label caused her to look sickened. "What kind of sicko are you, Ranma?"  
  
"It's not mine," Ranma replied. "Rattie must have conjured it. The spell indicates that's where she is, though. Odd that he didn't put any misdirection spells on it, that's pretty par for magical prisons."  
  
"Well, I'll just free..." Akane started pulling the stopper from the bottle.  
  
"NO! Tendo-san, that was created by a demon. I'd expect traps on it. Let's take the bottle downstairs, I'll research it, and you can draw the stopper as soon as I've made sure it's safe."  
  
Akane considered drawing the stopper anyway, but allowed that there might be something to all this.  
  
end chapter 1  
  
(1)Animal appears courtesy of Jim Henson and the Muppet Show. The humiliation of being defeated by a muppet furthers the Kuno hatred of Ranma beyond even canon levels.  
  
GAMING DATA-  
Aramar is the name of the Dyson Sphere-like world of my gaming mileau (started out in Metagaming's Melee & Magic, changed to The Fantasy Trip when that was available, and eventually shifted to AD&D) while Shadar is the name of an "empire" within that setting.  
Instead of using the spell/level, a spell-point system from TFT was adapted for use in AD&D. Less spells at hand, but the mage can cast those spells as long as their manna holds out. Race gives a base number of points, plus bonuses for high Constitution and Intelligence. Points increase per level gained.  
Ranma is actually Emeraldrank, meaning he can cast 7th level spells. He's studying to go to Sapphirerank, which is where the mage can cast 8th level spells. Beyond that is Diamondrank (9th level spells) and Namerank (you're no longer channelling magic, you *are* magic.)  
Glassrank, Amberrank, Crystal rank, Opalrank, Rubyrank, Jaderank, Emeraldrank, Sapphirerank, Diamondrank, Namerank.  
Ranma's "mother" in Shadar is the archmage Lijra (ardrow f, W22, NG(L)). His Master, however, was a Jaderank named Kinnor (dwarf m, W12 (max for dwarves of his breed), LN(G), Shadarian Mage Corps Captain.)  
  
  
==========================================  
  
Chapter Two: "Home Is Where The Heart Is"  
  
see disclaimers at beginning of chapter 1, slight bit of hentai at beginning.  
  
"Don't try to drink a dwarf under the table,  
Ya don't wanna share a meal with a burrower,  
Don't trust an elf to keep his word,  
and if ya cross a dragon, well my best to yer next of kin."  
- Halfling drinking song, "Next Of Kin"  
  
---Tendo-ke, Japan, 1992-------  
  
Ranma pulled the cork from the bottle, double checking his wards. Smoke gradually coalesced into the figure of Nabiki as Akane and Kasumi watched.  
  
"Oh, how pretty!" Kasumi looked at Nabiki's raiment and thought about how impractical the garment was.  
  
"Eeeep!" Akane exclaimed and ran up to Nabiki's room to see if she could find some clothes to give her sister a bit more coverage.  
  
"Well, the wards held. Any hostile spells were neutralized. There was some kind of transformation going on, but I can't see any differences. How do you feel, Nabiki-san?" Ranma tried NOT to look too closely, though certainly if there had been any physical changes her "clothing" wouldn't conceal them.  
  
"A bit chilly, actually." Nabiki had always been a bit of an exhibitionist but her current lack of clothing was not quite what she would prefer to wear outside. Though she DID like the gems. She was hoping that everyone would excuse the obvious signs of arousal from her as being from the retail value of her costume, or from the cold. Instead of that it was taking an iron control to keep from pouncing on Ranma and doing something terribly ecchi right there before Kasumi.  
  
Tiny gems twinkled and winked at the thin chainlink belt around her waist. From the belt hung a thin sheet of nearly sheer golden silk, which hung from waist to knee level but was only about six inches wide. More gems glittered at the earcuffs, the golden manacles and leg cuffs, the collar around her neck, and the bands of lacy-looking metal encircling upper arms and lower thighs. Thin chains that also appeared made of gold linked a ring on her middle finger to the manacle on each hand. A similar set was on her feet. Her breasts were barely restrained by a single length of the thin chain attatched halter-fashion to pair of gemmed cups.  
  
"This costume appeared on me about three hours ago, while you were doing up the Circles," Nabiki said, trying to appear nonchalant and in control.  
  
Akane burst into the room. "Hey, what are all MY clothes doing in your closet?!"  
  
"Maybe I could turn the clothing back," mused Ranma.  
  
"DON'T YOU DARE!" Nabiki composed herself again. "I mean, don't bother, Ranma-kun. It's hardly that concerning. Besides, I'm sure that I can find a use for some of the... ornamentation."  
  
"Well, if you feel all right, Nabiki-san..." Ranma let his voice trail off, still trying not to look too close.  
  
"Fine, Ranma-kun, I just need to go change clothes."  
  
"Well, then, I'll clean the circles from the dojo later. Kasumi, could you come to my room?"  
  
Kasumi's eyes widened. Hers weren't the only ones.  
  
---Beggar's Pass, Shadar, Aramar 7th Age---  
  
They called themselves, when speaking among themselves, the Dvaerren (or in the regional dialects of two varieties, the Dvarren.) Everybody else called them dwarves.  
  
There were six varieties of them, and what was true of one variety was not necessarily true about another. The things all of them had in common was that they were short by human standards, tended to be really good artificiers and engineers, preferred living underground, generally despised elves, and were sturdy folk. They all also tended to sink due to a problem with tissue density and insufficient flotation. Which is why there were no Sea Dwarves. (The Sea Of Steel being a desert of reddish sand rather than something with water.)  
  
Some had beards that they would elaborately tie and trim, like the rugged vaguely Nordic culture dwarves of the Hegemony. Some shaved all available hair like the dwarves of the Sea Of Steel. Some dwarves were like those of the Starfall Mountains, and lived underground but worked above the surface. Some dwarves were like those of Amberlake and mastered the powers of mind as they forged Items Of Power. Some dwarves, like those of Emeraldis, preferred working with wood and brass to steel and magic.  
  
Thurin Kaille was a dwarf of Shadar, and a Shadarian Marine, which meant that he trimmed beard and hair, bathed frequently, and didn't care that much for what others considered "typical dwarf standards." Currently he was on a zard, a scaley-feathered herbivorous "reptile" that wasn't too quick (physically or mentally) but had the benefits of enormous strength and stamina.  
  
Being a Shadarian Marine, and therefore part of a chain of command, Thurin was not particularly surprised when the image of a tall humanoid faded into view. He spent a few moments getting the zard to behave before addressing the image.  
  
"Captain? I assume there is a reason you're interrupting my patrol." Thurin reined the zard in. He didn't like zards, he didn't like border patrol, he didn't like his Captain, and he especially didn't like the cloud of gnats attracted to the damn zard.  
  
"Kaille." The dislike was proven mutual just from the way the name was said. "Your patrol is to be cut short, and you are to proceed to Port Shadar at best speed. Your destination is the Southern Cross base, drydock nine, an Osprey class ship named Wildhorse. There you will find further orders."  
  
"Excuse me, 'Wildhorse'?" Thurin glared at the figure. "This isn't some more crap dealing with that damn useless mage Ranma, is it? I thought I was finally done with playing nursemaid."  
  
"I am not at liberty to say," Captain Ashwraith said, returning the glare.  
  
"Where did these orders originate, then?"  
  
The Captain was clearly reluctant, but dropped a name before cutting the connection.  
  
Thurin scratched his beard as he considered. "Imperial Palace, eh? So, it looks like Ranma's in trouble AGAIN." The dwarf grinned as soon as he was sure that he wasn't being monitored. "Well, move, you damn beast. The kid's so wet behind the ears he'd drown if he didn't have ol' Thurin Kaille to pull him out of his messes."  
  
------Tendo-ke, Japan-------  
  
After all the preparations and excitement of getting Nabiki out of the bottle, it was almost just another morning at the Tendo dojo. There *was* a break in the usual routine, however, as Kasumi was not currently involved in cleaning.  
  
Instead, she was in the guest room.  
  
Akane was doing something unusual too. She had a glass in one hand and was listening through the wall.  
  
"I'm sorry Ranma, but... can I touch that?"  
  
"Actually, Kasumi, I was hoping you would."  
  
"Oh. I've never handled one of these before. I've seen pictures, of course. It feels warm..."  
  
Akane made a noise. It was somewhere between "glek" and "geeble."  
  
"Warm? Ah, you've got the grip perfectly, Kasumi. Keep it up. Nice even strokes."  
  
"Ah, this is easy. I thought it would be more difficult."  
  
"Well, easy for you. You have such a gentle touch and a natural talent, I think."  
  
"Hmmm. Why thank you, Ranma!" Kasumi sounded relieved. "After watching the way you pick at the meals, I was afraid you were unhappy with me."  
  
"Oh no, not at all. The fault is entirely mine. I'm used to a *very* different diet. I thought you could use some reassurance, though, which is why I'm sharing this with you."  
  
Akane twitched, what was obviously occurring in the next room sufficient horror that she couldn't seem to move.  
  
"Hmmm. This juice here... OH! It's good!"  
  
"It gratifies me to hear you say that, Kasumi." Ranma chuckled at something. "Try gently squeezing here as you suck on it."  
  
"MMMMMmmmmm. Oh MY."  
  
Akane slammed the door to Ranma's room open. "CUT IT OUT! KASUMI, I'll... save you..."  
  
Kasumi and Ranma looked up from the table had been set up in his bedroom, thin slices of some unidentifiable fruit and chunks of dark black bread visible. The oddly shaped knife and cutting board in front of Kasumi, as well as the sliced melon, seemed to indicate what the 'nice even strokes' had been.  
  
"Akane?" Kasumi seemed puzzled by her sister's outburst.  
  
Akane thought quickly, trying to find a way to make her sudden entry sound logical.  
  
"Oh, Akane, why don't you try some of this," Kasumi exclaimed, holding a purple fruit about the size of a fist out. "It's really quite good."  
  
"Errr. No, I think I'll stick with the traditional breakfast. Really." Akane smiled while she mentally kicked herself. Even if this Ranma were using a spell to control Kasumi, her sweetly oblivious sister wouldn't do anything like *that*.   
  
Ranma actually chuckled. "I understand and empathize, Tendo-san."  
  
Akane blinked. (He knows that I thought he was using a spell to rape Kasumi?!)  
  
"Yeah," Ranma said. "I'm having a lot of trouble adapting to a Japanese diet, particularly in the morning. There's just something about not wanting to get too inventive first thing in the morning, ne?"  
  
(Whew!) Akane relaxed marginally. "Yeah, I guess."  
  
Nabiki stuck her head in, saw the fruit, and didn't wait for an invitation. After the first bite, her eyes popped open and she began inhaling slices of bread and pieces of the other fruits.  
  
Kasumi and Ranma were amused. Akane was alarmed but hid it. Nabiki used the distractions to palm seeds of the exotic otherworldly plants.  
  
"Anyway," Ranma said after a few moments, "Kasumi, would you like to go for a ride later? I was curious about the area."  
  
Kasumi brightened slightly but pointed out that they did not have a car.  
  
"No problem." Ranma snapped his fingers, causing the bag to waddle over and open. He reached into Bag, drawing forth a rolled up carpet that he snapped out as if it were a sheet. That the carpet flattened out and hung in midair was duly noted by all concerned. Their reactions, however, were not quite identical.  
  
Kasumi's eyes widened and got a focussed look to them that her sisters would not have recognized had they been paying attention. An image of herself, flying along on a carpet, danced before her eyes. She could look down at the house and watch her responsibilities and duties dwindle off into the distance as she soared amongst the heavens...  
  
Nabiki saw the potential for profit among other things. A trip to anywhere she wanted that didn't cost her anything. Up to the Gero Spa or down to Kansai for a quick trip. No crowded commuter trains, to ride with style wherever she wanted to go...   
  
Akane thought about how Ranma might go zipping off forever with her naive sister on one of those things. On the other hand, it'd be nice to go somewhere without getting groped by some pervert on the train... Maybe she ought to demand a flight first, just to make sure it was safe.  
  
"So, since this is Sunday, y'know," Ranma began, cursing himself for being flustered. There was no way, even if this girl actually turned out to like him, that she'd want to go back home with him. And what was this bit with taking over a dojo that Tendo-san kept harping about during dinner? He was a mage, getting up there among the higher ranks, though he couldn't quite pull off a MIRV or Dragon Storm. What kind of... well, she *might* make a good Healer cleric. Hmmm.  
  
Soun opened his mouth, ready to charge into the room from where he was eavesdropping and make sure they knew that this was an ideal opportunity to unite the two Houses.  
  
"I will need this room clear, though. Those casks of water are cursed and part of my research. I'll transport them myself upstairs." Ranma gestured towards the small barrels.  
  
"Oh dear, I forgot breakfast for father!" Kasumi said this in the sort of voice one would expect for someone saying that they'd forgotten to set the parking brake and that massive collision at the bottom of the hill was THEIR fault.  
  
"I'll handle it, Kasumi!" Akane winked and made a show of rolling up her sleeves.  
  
Soun fled, thoughts of joining the two houses momentarily tabled.  
  
Kasumi waited until Akane had left the room. "Uhm, Ranma-kun. You..." This had been bothering her for some time, and she was finally just going to come out and ask.  
  
"Yes, Kasumi-chan?"  
  
Kasumi took a deep breath. "It's just that I..."  
  
"FOUL SORCERER! WHERE ARE YOU?"  
  
Nabiki, listening from nearby, winced. Akane dropped the bottle of vegetable oil and flung her apron aside. Soun growled. Kasumi politely excused herself as she made a comment about how they apparently had a guest.  
  
"What's Kuno doing here?" Ranma sighed and shook his head. "This is my day off, fer cryin' out loud." Maybe he ought to use something simple. Mostly Harmless might work.  
  
Soun frowned further. Here the schools were about to be joined and some MORON had to go butting in!  
  
Akane went out the front door, intent on beating some sense into Kuno. How dare he attack her home!  
  
Kasumi noticed the smoke and flames from the kitchen first, rescuing the doll just before it caught.  
  
"Quench," cast Ranma a moment later.   
  
"So where's Kuno, anyway?" Akane walked back in. "Hey, what happened here?"  
  
CRASH!SPLASH!  
  
"Offhand," said Ranma looking up, "I'd say Kuno's in my room."  
  
An inhuman cry echoed through the house. "Squuuueeeeee!"  
  
"And I'd say he found the cursed water," appended Ranma.  
  
"I'll get him," Akane declared, running up the stairs.  
  
"She isn't..." Ranma said, unable to believe she was doing that. "Just great, I'll have to shift my Repel Water to HER!" dimension door  
  
"I wonder why..." Kasumi wondered about that. Ranma had mentioned several times that he had a curse, but always changed the subject when questioned about specifics. What kind of curse could he have?  
  
----------------------  
  
"Squeeee Squeeee!"  
  
Akane looked in the room but didn't see any sign of Kuno.  
  
"Here, Tendo-san!" Ranma appeared in midair and caused a globe of light to form around the youngest Tendo. "That'll keep you from getting cursed."  
  
"Yeah right," Akane said, looking for her usual target. There was his blue kendo outfit. There was his bokken. There was a smashed open wall and a shattered keg of water. Akane stiffened as the implication hit her. Tatewaki Kuno, greatest pervert of the school, was in HER home - WITHOUT his clothes! "That, that, that PERVERT!"  
  
"Hmmm?" Ranma asked, not seeing the connection. Stupid he was willing to admit, pathetic to be certain, egomaniacal -definitely, needlessly violent - relatively. Pervert?  
  
The doorbell rang, giving Ranma something ELSE to think about.  
  
----------------------  
  
Shampoo was bored. Bored, bored, bored. Life as a plush doll was *not* something she particularly fancied. She could see, she could hear, she could feel. Moving or even blinking didn't seem to be options. Sleeping she could do. Oddly enough she felt calmer and more at peace than she had in her memory.  
  
Shampoo was assuming that this was because she apparently didn't have blood or hormones going through her system, a side effect of being a warm and fuzzy sort of toy. The initial panic had worn away and was now down to a sort of amused largely-detached observation.  
  
So Shampoo had spent considerable time doing something she'd never had time to do before. She was getting rather introspective. Previously, time training had consumed her life. One of the things she'd hoped would be different when tracking down this mage was that the world wouldn't rely on her to be Shampoo anymore. Her great grandmother could find someone else to train, the other village girls could stop with all the comments and gossip, Mousse could find someone else to annoy, and Shampoo could find an Outsider male!  
  
She'd known since she was fourteen that this was the way to go. Not merely annoying to the point of near-homicidal tendencies like Mousse. Nor like Razor, who was a very nice weaponsmith with some healing training, but in a marriage he'd be the properly deferential Amazon male. NOT what Shampoo fancied in a lifemate.  
  
So an Outsider had defeated her, he was male, he was valuable to the tribe by her own great grandmother's admission, and...  
  
And apparently he'd set a trap up so that as she snuck into his camp, it went off and Shampoo the Amazon Champion was now the 7"tall plush doll. Her dignity was the first casualty, quite obviously.  
  
Then there was this girl. Not a proper Amazon at all. Nice, though. Pleasant. The girl chatted to the doll about a great many things while she was cooking. Shampoo had puzzled it all out gradually, but her command of the Japanese language was a few odd words she'd picked up listening to Sash talk about that anime stuff. Still, it made this less intolerable than it would have been.  
  
And then some different girl had come in, started cooking, and left. Shampoo had watched with horror as the oil caught fire. As the flames spread closer, Shampoo would have been screaming if she could. She could feel the heat, and knew that she was a few seconds from burning to death.  
  
Then the first girl came in and set everything aright. The mage stuck his head in, casting a spell that caused the flames to die, but it was the first girl who had SAVED her! Not saving the village elder's great granddaughter, not some odd fantasy of Mousse's creation, and certainly not the Village Champion weighed down by responsibilities and constantly having to meet OTHER people's expectations.  
  
Shampoo's eyes got misty as the First Girl took her to the door. She wasn't being left alone again. She was being clutched to the girl's chest and just felt so... warm and fuzzy.  
  
Now if SOMEONE would just turn her back to normal.  
  
-----EYECATCH----------  
  
Ranma is in tuxedo with top hat. He sets the hat on a small table.  
  
"Hey, Kasumi, watch me pull a rabbit out of my hat!"  
  
"But, Ranma, the last time you tried that..." Kasumi is in an evening dress and looks concerned.  
  
"Nothing up my sleeve. PRESTO!"   
  
Akane, dressed in a bunny suit, has just been pulled out of the hat and is hanging by her ears from Ranma's hand. "You're a dead man, Saotome."  
  
"Uhm, we'll be right back after these messages." dimension door  
  
---Shadar, Aramar 7th Age Of Man----  
  
Thurin left the hated beast behind at the first chance, then made his way through the Amazon Base.  
  
He grumbled, he glared, and he generally acted royally pissed. It kept most of them away. He was a Marine and therefore had served on the old-fashioned spelljammers, skyjammers, etherjammers, and other craft. This meant that he was well acquainted with the race known as the Delphins Amazons.   
  
He was a dwarf, he was a warrior, he was a damn MARINE! He was NOT cute!  
  
(That had been one good thing about having the Kid around. All the girls went after HIM and left ME alone.) Thurin almost smiled. (Let's see Southern Cross Amazons tend to follow the pie-slice design on their bases, so the drydocks should be there. Yup. Now let's see... Dock Nine...)  
  
Thurin grimaced at the sight of the ship. Osprey class skyjammer, as promised. (There's an old saying among the shipwrights. Manueverability, Versatility, Firepower, Livability. Choose any two. Hmmph.)   
  
The dwarf looked at the ship, looking vaguely like a stylized hawk, and wondered how many battles this ship had been through. "What a piece of junk!"  
  
"HEY!" A silver skinned woman looked down from one wing. "The Wildhorse has been through a few fights, but she'll still d-hop capable and will do 75 kph in normal skyjamming operations."  
  
"Pfeh. An oriad? Besides, I've worked on Osprey class ships before. The Stargazer, for one. One light ballista, manueverability sucks, and it wallows in the water."  
  
The oriad frowned. "Mage cannon, missile type. You're still as grumpy as ever, are you, Thurin Kaille?"  
  
"Do I know you?" The dwarf regarded the oriad. Problem was, all nymphs tended to look alike. Oriads all looked either like they were sculpted from stone or liquid silver. Well, at least if they had a mage cannon they weren't *completely* defenseless.  
  
"Silvara, Engineer of the Wildhorse," the oriad proclaimed. "Rank designate is sergeant, Captain."  
  
"I ain't no officer, I work for a living," the dwarven marine grumbled. "I'm also no mage so I can't operate the cannon."  
  
"You're the captain now," Silvara informed him. "Orders are in your desk. We're going to go rescue some friend of yours by order of the Empress."  
  
That *did* surprise Thurin. "The Empress? Me, a Captain? I'm a warrior, not an administrator."  
  
A familiar voice broke into the conversation. "True, and I thought that *I* would have been a much better choice, but some people thought otherwise."   
  
"Stormshadow?!" Thurin couldn't help but look around, though he knew the elf would only show up when *he* wanted to been seen. "Turn over a ship command to a rogue like you? HAH! If you were the only other choice, no wonder they'd make me Captain."  
  
Shadows seemed to solidify as the elf stepped forward. "Still stubborn as a rock and twice as harsh? I guess some things don't improve with age. Still, you've hit on it. My 'talents' are more often employed in the field of special operations."  
  
Thurin considered the lanky form of the elf. He knew the mage was overall a good person, if overly concerned with uncovering the secrets of ancient magic. "So what are *you* doing here? Are we expected to steal something?"  
  
Stormshadow lost his customary smirk. "You'll see. We've still got to wait for two more crewmen, so you'd better take the time to read those orders."  
  
-----Jusenkyo, China-------  
  
"Ah sir," the Jusenkyo Guide said, guessing. He *thought* this was a sir, but wasn't entirely sure. "You not want to go there. Is over one hundred spring here, each with own terrible tragic stor...urk!"  
  
The Jusenkyo Guide clawed at the invisible fingers around his neck as he was lifted into the air.  
  
"Silence wretch. I want to know where Ranma Emeraldrank is. Have you seen him?"  
  
"Urk!"  
  
"Never mind," the foppish looking figure drew a glowing pattern in midair. "Ho ho. So he WAS here. And was transformed into a girl by the magic of these pools? Let's see what happens if I toss YOU in one!" SPLASH  
  
The Guide crawled out of the pool. "Sir cannot curse me. I already cursed by springs to act as Jusenkyo Guide and Caretaker of this place."  
  
"Whatever, you are of no use to me." The hunter adjusted his lace collar briefly. "Hmmm. So he went from here to that village of obnoxious women, then from there on. But to where?"  
  
"I not know."   
  
"Of course you don't, vermin," the hunter said disdainfully and cast a spell at the Guide. "Now, that should hold you while I siphon off the magic of this site, then use the power to get a lock on that boy's position."  
  
"Kaw! Kaw!" The raven flew away before this crazy tourist did anything else.  
  
----Tendo-ke, Japan------  
  
"Yes, can I help you?" Kasumi answered the door to find a woman she didn't recognize standing there. She was a little distracted though, as she had just noticed that the plush doll she was carrying was CRYING?!  
  
"Hello there," the woman said with a bow. "I received a call from Soun Tendo stating my son was here. I'm Nodoka Saotome."  
  
"Oh," said Kasumi. "How nice. Won't you come in? My name is Kasumi Tendo, and I'm Ranma's fiancee." (Oh dear, did I say that?)  
  
"Geez, Akane, all I did was..." Ranma came down the stairs and stared at the doll in Kasumi's hands. "Oh heck. I forgot entirely about her."  
  
"Oh, Ranma, this is Nodoka Saotome."  
  
"Oh hello." Ranma scratched his head. "Uhm, Kasumi, about that doll you've got there..."  
  
"You're Ranma? You're too old to be my son, he'd be only sixteen."  
  
"Son?!" Ranma blinked, this being enough to derail his concentration rather adequately. "Uhm, actually, I think if you go objectively chronologically in THIS universe I *am* sixteen. It's just a few more years have passed for me subjectively. You're my... mom?!"  
  
"Who is your father?"  
  
"Genma Saotome. Errrr. This isn't about a food bill is it?"  
  
Nodoka blinked this time. "Why?"  
  
Ranma sighed. "Well, it's like this. I used a seekerspell to track his progress, tricky when the trail's that old so I used a spirit-magic invocation. The spirits don't forget that easily." Ranma grimaced. "Apparently neither do storekeepers, gamblers, or a few dojo owners. Every town I went into for provisions seemed to have someone ELSE trying to get me for repaying HIS debts. I went through half my gold stash just paying them off."  
  
Nodoka blinked again. "That DOES sound like Genma. Oh, Ranma, you're back!" glomp!  
  
"Uhm, let me change the doll back to human before we get too involved in this," Ranma requested.  
  
-----------------  
  
Akane entered her room, glad that she'd convinced Ranma to drop the spell he'd cast on her earlier. It had felt uncomfortable, like an extra layer of skin that didn't quite fit. Something registered and she went into a defensive posture immediately.  
  
"Bweeeee!" (Akane Tendo, you have come to rescue me!)  
  
A small black pig launched itself at her, dripping water. Naturally, being a trained martial artist, Akane blocked the attack.  
  
"Bweeee! Bweee! Bweee!" (Ah, Akane, my love! Throw off the chains of the spell that bind you to that foul sorcerer!)  
  
"Ohhhh!" Akane got a good look at her attacker. "A piglet? You look cold. C'mere. Don't be afraid."  
  
The piglet slowly eased forward, looking very uncertain. "Bweee? Bquiii squee squee snort skiii kwee." (This room? Ah, so I have found the bedchambers of Akane Tendo!)  
  
"You're all wet, poor thing." Akane held the little black pig to her bosom, feeling his heart beat rapidly against her. "Well, I guess I just need to warm you up. How's a hot bath sound?"  
  
"BWEeEE!" (That sounds most wonderful!)  
  
--------------------  
  
Nodoka watched as her son put the doll on a cushion, stood well back, and put a hand up.  
  
"Uhm, you two might want to get clear. Last I saw, this girl was attacking me. If she doesn't go away quietly, I'll have to use another spell, and right now my manna ain't that high." Ranma looked over his shoulder at where his newly acquired mother and Kasumi stood. They were joined a moment later by Nabiki, dressed now in a pullover.  
  
"Bag," said Ranma after a moment's consideration.  
  
Kasumi and Nabiki got out of the carpetbag's way as it waddled in. Nodoka merely stared, her normally immaculate hair toinging out slightly.  
  
Apparently rummaging in the interior, Ranma explained. "I had just returned to this dimension when I ran into this village of Amazons. Bag here started eating the first prize, and I got challenged to a fight by one of the Amazons present. When I defeated her, a whole bunch of other Amazons tried to attack me. I escaped, but naturally I put up a set of anti-sneak wards when I made camp for the night.  
  
"This girl is the one who challenged me, and tried to sneak into my camp. Hence her current status as a plush toy." Ranma found what he was looking for and pulled an orb out of his pack. "Since it might take me a few moments to get off a binding spell if she's violent, I'll have to awaken one of my travelling companions.  
  
"Kyor," Ranma said to the orb after placing it on the floor.  
  
The orb shimmered and expanded, finally bursting and revealing a non-orb shape.  
  
"Oh, how," Kasumi was going to say cute but that would be a blatant lie, "distinguished."  
  
"That is one UGLY dog." Nabiki was not mincing words. Then she frowned as some details of the anatomy registered. "What the...?!"  
  
The dog looked over each of them, golden eyes regarding Nabiki and Nodoka's wrapped bundle briefly before deciding that nobody in the room was an immediate candidate for lunchmeat.  
  
"You have a dog, son?"  
  
"Aramar in the Seventh Age Of Man can be a dangerous place," explained Ranma. "You're looking at one of the few things that can eat a troll without being either poisoned or killed by the regenerating properties. Kyor is an askanar. Say hello, Kyor."  
  
*"Hello Kyor."*  
  
"Very funny."  
  
*"Kyor think so."* The dog's golden eyes searched the room again. *"No threat."*  
  
"A telepathic dog, or no, that isn't quite a dog is it?" Nabiki's eyes narrowed. The eyes looked more feline, and the creature had a mix of feline and canine features in the body structure as well. It was also huge and thickly built, Nabiki was guessing about one hundred eighty pounds or so.  
  
*"Kyor not like cities. Smelly. No room to run. Not fun. We go back now?"*  
  
"Actually, Kyor, I need you to guard. I'm going to transform this doll back."  
  
Kyor sniffed the doll, then trotted back. *"Put back in bag when done. Not like it here."*  
  
Ranma cast the dispel. The doll shimmered and changed.  
  
"AIREN!" The Amazon Glomp was stopped in midpounce by a dog knocking her out of the air and locking jaws around her neck.  
  
Everyone else, except Ranma, blinked. They hadn't seen the dog move from a seated position near Ranma's feet, and then it just suddenly was there with the girl in a compromising grip.  
  
*"She not intend harm. She try grab. Kyor stop. Kyor kill?"*  
  
"No, Kyor, just keep her away for now."  
  
The dog backed off slightly, resuming his position near Ranma.  
  
"Did he just teleport?!" Nabiki grabbed the first explanation that made sense.  
  
Shampoo rubbed her neck to check for blood. "No, Shampoo see. Dog move very fast."  
  
"Askari Hounds can move *very* quickly when they want to," agreed Ranma. "Now, will you grant me a promise that you won't hurt anyone here? Otherwise I'll just turn you into a statue until I get a long distance teleport ready."  
  
Shampoo winced at having her options cut down like that, but when dealing with a wizard... She was about ready to flee back to China anyway. "Shampoo promise."  
  
"So, why did you pursue me Shampoo? I left your village and had no intention of coming back. I never intended harm to you or your village."  
  
Shampoo considered *very* carefully. Spending an unknown amount of time as a doll had taught her something that her great-grandmother had despaired of teaching Shampoo: caution.  
"Shampoo no speak Japanese goodly. Is OK say Chinese?"  
  
"Not speak goodly is an understatement," said Nabiki in a tone that indicated amusement.  
  
"Well, I'm running low on manna, but I suppose," Ranma said reluctantly. It wasn't that he disliked Amazons, far from it. He had some very good friends in House Rising Sun of the Delphins Amazons. (They'd wanted to be much better friends, that touch of alienness about them had always put him off.)  
  
Shampoo waited until the glow of the spell appeared. "Okay. Here's the deal. In my tribe tradition and personal honor count for a lot. When an Outsider male defeats an Amazon, they must give the Kiss Of Life and marry the man in question."  
  
Ranma nodded. "Oh, I see."  
  
Nabiki and Kasumi blinked. "WHAT?!"  
  
Nodoka smiled and turned to Kasumi. "Best get the tea things out, dear, this sounds like it will take awhile."  
  
--------------------  
  
"AAAAAAAAAA!"  
  
"Ah, Akane Tendo, my love!"  
  
"Where did you...? And where's P-chan?!"  
  
Kuno smirked as he stepped from the bath. "Ah, Akane, this must be fate itself that you should appear before me as magnificently..."  
  
Akane panicked. Kuno appearing out of nowhere, obviously being HENTAI and then some. In fact, she KNEW he was glad to see her. It was rather obvious. "AAAAAAAA!" Akane repeated for good measure.  
  
----------------------  
  
"aaaaaAAAAAAAAAA!!" ZOOM! ZOOM!  
  
The small crowd around the table did an eerie synchronous blink.  
  
"Uhm, the stress must be getting to me," Nabiki confessed. "I could have sworn I saw something that was flagrantly impossible."  
  
"Oh dear, Akane really should wait until after she's married before doing such things!" Kasumi made a mental note to talk to Akane about this, and likely to schedule the wedding SOON.  
  
Ranma finally blinked. "Uhm, Nabiki, if it was your youngest sister, nude, being pursued by an equally nude Tatewaki Kuno across the dining room and out into your backyard... that wasn't an optical illusion."  
  
Nabiki blinked again. "MY CAMERA!" Zoom!  
  
Nodoka waited calmly for Kasumi to fill her teacup. "My goodness, is it always like this here?"  
  
"aaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaa!"  
  
"Akane Tendo, my love, come to me! Your invitation to bathe with you is quite accepted!"  
  
"I never knew that the Japanese had such... bizarre courtship rites."  
  
*"Kyor think girl just genuinely repulsed."*  
  
"So, Shampoo," Nodoka began, ignoring the still audible wail of the running couple. "Can you explain what's going on?"  
  
"With regard to myself, yes. I have NO idea what's going on with those two. And who's that older man who just got trampled?"  
  
"Oh, father father father."  
  
"So, Shampoo, why don't you explain why you've got to marry my son?" Nodoka ignored the chaos as best she could and just concentrated on the first problem at hand.  
  
---------------------  
  
Nabiki went to Ranma's room, stepped over the puddle, and took a position atop one of the casks. These pictures would be worth a FORTUNE!  
  
Nabiki eagerly snapped a set of photos. Some shots of Akane. Some shots of Kuno. Some shots of Kuno and Akane! Yes, this would sell for big yen. Not that she needed the money, but it could go into her college fund.  
  
SNAP! SNAP! SNAP! CREAK! CRACK! SPLASH!  
  
"Aaaaa! Meow! Meow! Meow!" CRACK! SPLASH! "whoooo! whooo!"  
  
-------------------------  
  
"I see," said Ranma, sipping his tea.  
  
"So you'll marry me?"  
  
"There's several problems with your proposal," noted Ranma. "One, I will not stay in this world but will return to my own as soon as I've cured this curse, determined what needs to be done to clear my karma, and gotten THAT taken care of."  
  
"WHAT?!" Nodoka's aura of calm evaporated.  
  
"I'm sorry, Mother," Ranma said with a sad smile, "but Shadar is my home. I've friends and an adopted family, responsibilities and duties. I'm a mage, but I also work for the Imperial Palace itself."  
  
"And what of your honor to your family? What of your honor to your country? What of your duties as our firstborn?"  
  
Ranma merely cocked an eyebrow at this. "Up until a few minutes ago, the only family I knew of was my father. Unless you count my adopted mother Lijra. As to my country, Shadar *is* my country now. And to its defense and well-being I am sworn."  
  
Kasumi gathered her courage to do something that no one who knew her would expect. At least no one who saw her as a meek little hausfrau. "Ranma? When you leave, would you..."  
  
Nodoka and Ranma watched Kasumi briefly stammer and shake.  
  
"...would you take me with you..."  
  
"WHAT?! Don't tell me that YOU are my rival here?" Shampoo was upset.  
  
Ranma blinked. "What do you mean rival?"  
  
"Son, we *really* need to discuss this."  
  
"You can't be my rival. You're not even a warrior!"  
  
*"Loud. Wanna go home."*  
  
"aaaaaAAAAAAAaaaaaa!"  
  
"Akane! My huff fragile and puff delicate gasp flower!"  
  
"WAAAAAAA! Now my youngest daughter is getting married! Oh happy day!" (And maybe this will give Kasumi and Ranma some ideas!)  
  
"whooo who whooooo!"  
  
Ranma considered briefly the joy of a Silence 15' Radius cast upon himself.  
  
============================  
  
GAMING DATA:  
Aramar was first envisioned as a "there's an actual reason for (insert fantasy or RPG standard) occurring" setting. Such as how an elf and a human could produce a child or why so many species resembled humans to some extent.  
In the First Age Of Man, humans developed a technology based on observed phenomena. Eventually they got through their various stages (Stone Age, Iron Age, Renaissance, Space Age, etc.) and colonized the stars. They also cracked the secrets of DNA and how to build organisms to exact specifications.   
Dwarves were built for living/mining heavyworlds, where concentrations of heavier elements made for higher gravity. Dwarves were therefore built densely, short, with reinforced skeletal structures and a higher than human tensile strength.  
Elves were originally L-5ers, or humans adapted for work in low or no gravity environments such as space stations. They were later altered greatly by the Time of Chaos and Second Age Of Man.  
Halflings and various other races were genetically engineered for various other environments and tasks. Most of whom were designed to be able to breed true and be compatible with humans. Human + any of those races designed for it, would produce a member of the nonhuman parent's species as that DNA was dominant. In the cases of elves and dwarves, a mix would be born that could then be re-merged with one of the parent's lines.  
This is also why there are so few humans in the 7th Age Of Man...  
  
========================  
  
A Different Art, chapter 3 "It's a nice day for a white wedding..."  
  
Ranma 1/2 by R.Takahashi, other char by other people and i could see a LOT of crossover possibilities with this one.   
  
NOTE: this is just meant to be amusing. Not Epic, not Great Literature, not Canon, not Akanecentric. Can't deal with the "nots" then save us both some frustration and read... well "Hearts Of Ice" is mainly canon, sort of, and manages to at least touch base with the other three.  
  
"Don't go to the dwarves for answer, for they will tell you they don't know, don't care, and will likely throw a party to celebrate this attitude. On second thought, maybe you *do* want to go to the dwarves..." -Selman the Halfling, "An Adventurer's Guide To Shadar" 851 6th Age.  
  
  
---------------------  
  
"So, Ranma, explain," Nodoka said while looking askance at her son.  
  
Akane was upstairs, recovering from her ordeal. Where she'd gotten the pet pig from, nobody was quite sure. There were a few suspicions, but after a hesitant attempt to tell Akane that her newly acquired pet might actually be the pervert in question, and Akane's rather vicious response (flattening Ranma) - nobody else was going to bring it up.  
  
That left Nabiki (currently a pygmy owl that was impatiently waiting for the water to be heated up) perched on Kasumi's shoulder. Kasumi was looking a little "out of it" due to the events of earlier this morning, as well as having one sister sitting on her shoulder and another sister having decked her fiancee less than fifteen minutes ago.  
  
Shampoo wasn't sure WHERE she fit into all this, but had noted that in a HTH fight she could take Akane. Akane could take out Ranma. Therefore, Ranma in a strictly physical battle would fall to Shampoo fairly quickly. Various possibilities occurred to her. Using Formula 110, or just dragging Ranma off to receive the Kiss Of Life (followed by some more kisses and some quite etchi activity to consummate the marriage), or a number of other scenarios kept coming back to the same problem. When he could get to spellcasting again, she might find a worse fate than being a plush toy in store for her. Indecision racked the Amazon, so she was just listening for now.  
  
"Unnngh," said Ranma, holding an ice pack to his head.   
  
*"Are you sure I can't eat her or the pig?"* The huge dog asked politely of everyone before seeming to go back to sleep.  
  
Kasumi replied no. Eating Akane or her pet was not an option.  
  
"Son?"  
  
"Yeah," Ranma took a deep breath and held up one finger on the hand that wasn't holding the icepack. "Okay. I gotta go back because the 'mother' who raised me and taught me magic is there."  
  
"Mother?" Nodoka frowned. It was logical that someone raised Ranma, but she was less than thrilled with the concept of someone else having that title in Ranma's life.  
  
Ranma gestured, and a translucent image formed. Everyone else stared. Ranma's gaze was more wistful.  
  
"She's... not human, is she?" Nodoka said hesitantly.  
  
"No. In fact, the only humans I'd heard of in the Seventh Age were other people who'd been lost in time or across dimensions like myself. Never met any of 'em," Ranma said. He'd seen the Emperor but only at a distance. "Elves, dwarves, orahm, tor, ogrii, halflings, burrowers, nymphs, dragons, Amazons..."  
  
"Amazons?!" Shampoo naturally seized on the opening.  
  
"Delphins Amazons, I don't think you're related. They're taller for one thing." Ranma shrugged. "Anyway, humans are viewed as mythic creatures for the most part. Lijra's the one who raised me, and she's what they call an ardrow. One of a group of religiously persecuted elves from offplane, who settled in Aramar where some evil goddess of spiders couldn't reach 'em."  
  
Nodoka looked over the lean woman with the black skin, white hair, amber eyes, tapered pointed ears, and wondered exactly what kind of mother this elf would have made.  
  
"Second," said Ranma adding a second finger to the first, "is duty. I'm currently an Emeraldrank mage working for the Imperial Palace, part of a Company of troubleshooters. Sapphirerank, the next official ranking among mages, is *real* important. You're getting into raw power there.Then there's Diamondrank, and beyond that's Namerank. Lijra's at that level. Ya get to that level and you're mentioned by name in treaties between kingdoms, things like that. So I'm on leave now 'cause the diviners said that I had things to get tied up back here before I take the next Ordeal.  
  
"Third," Ranma indicated with another finger joining the first two, "is that THERE is home now. I've spent quite a few years learning magic with Lijra, then with Kharon, then finally at the Lonely Tower. I've spent years perfecting my skills with the Art serving first among spelljammers and going to places like Waterdeep on Toril or the Rock Of Bral. Then dimension hopping to places like Rehaven and Sigil. But I've always come back to Aramar and the empire of Shadar because it's *home.* It's all a part of me, now.  
  
"The Festival Of Life, the Amazons' Sadie Hawkins race (Imperial dispensation not to be a participant helps one enjoy it!), the Flight Of Dragons, Dwarven Summerend, the mouseling Party Of Fine. All the temples and priests and magic." Ranma set the icepack aside and they could see the longing in his eyes. "It's where I belong now."  
  
Nabiki hopped down as Kasumi pulled the teakettle off a burner. A moment later, and a restored to human Nabiki was quickly dressing.  
  
"What about your family here?" Nodoka asked with apparent calm. "What of your fiancee?"  
  
"That's Mister Tendo's idea," replied Ranma. "I didn't hear anything about it before I got here. Kasumi-chan is nice, and I really like her, but when I return home could you see her coming along?"  
  
Kasumi blushed and studied her hands. (He thinks I'm nice? He really likes me? But, could I leave Japan? What about my family? Who will clean up after Father? Who will cook for them or fix Akane's messes? What kind of kitchen would there be in that tower?)  
  
Nodoka noted Kasumi's reaction, also that Nabiki was blushing slightly, and the pensive look that Shampoo was giving. (Interesting. Perhaps my son is manly to have so many girls interested.)  
  
Nabiki had no trouble with the "bedslave" curse while an owl, but had almost slipped her iron control and glomped Ranma. Regaining control and trying to concentrate on something else, she wondered if the customs of this other world were significantly different from Japan.  
  
"Fourth," indicated Ranma, apparently not noticing other people's discomfort, "there's so much I have *to do*!"  
  
"This 'Lonely Tower' that you mentioned," Nabiki said as she tried to focus on something besides how much she wanted to pounce on Ranma, rip his clothes off, and make mad passionate love right there on the dining room table. Other than fast breathing, a slight flush, and that she was staring at the table as if it had personally offended her, there weren't any clues to the others. "Uhm, that's your home?"  
  
"Oh yes." Ranma nodded and changed the image to the tower he had shown the two sisters earlier. The spiraling tower, looking vaguely Arabic, thrusting up from the peak of the mountain that seemed an island among the sea of forest surrounding it. "I was granted the land of the tower by the Emperor for services done. Me and a few friends had to clean it out first, but it's a nice little place."  
  
"Clean it out?" Kasumi asked curiously, thinking about thick dust and cobwebs being attacked by a number of maids with feather dusters.  
  
"Yeah, there were kuei and ghouls in the lower levels," Ranma chuckled. "Giant spiders and other vermin in the top levels. Then there's the dwarven caverns underneath, and THEY had to be cleared. Goblins, y'know. Anyway, the White Temple should be done purifying the site by the time I get done here."  
  
"Kuei?" Nabiki said, images of hungry ghosts managing to cool her ardor momentarily.  
  
"Giant spiders?" Kasumi said, turning pale as her image of a group of maids dusting out cobwebs was replaced with huge bloodsucking spiders being held at bay by spear-carrying housemaids.  
  
"White Temple?" Nodoka said with a frown. Hopefully he hadn't gotten too much religious instruction, it could have stunted his manliness.  
  
"Yeah, some good folk there. Not good warriors, but good folk." Ranma smiled at a private joke. "Anyway, the White Temple are batting clean up. By the time they're done, that tower will be safer from evil influences than most places."  
  
"Oh," Kasumi thought about it, and decided if it were safe... it probably needed a woman's touch though.  
  
"I don't get an idea of the scale from this, it's kind of fuzzy," observed Nabiki.  
  
"The mountain's only eight hundred feet tall. The forest isn't much, some old trees but the tallest ones are sixty feet tall tops. The tower itself is only five floors, about seventy feet across." Ranma looked apologetic. "I'm only an Emeraldrank, after all."  
  
"..." Nabiki considered the worth of such land and space in terms of the real estate she was used to: Tokyo Japan.  
  
Kasumi wondered how difficult such a place was to clean, and how big the kitchen was.  
  
Nodoka wondered if her son was sufficiently manly, and should she mention the contract that Genma had signed?  
  
"So, anyway, I've still got to cure this curse. Once I've got that fixed I can cure Nabiki's since they're both Jusenkyo curses." Ranma pointedly looked up at the ceiling in the direction of Akane's room. "AND someone else's if Akane will let me."  
  
"Ranma," Kasumi steeled herself again. "What kind of curse are you referring to?"  
  
"Hmmm? Oh, I've got a couple of curses. Comes with the territory mainly. The one me and Nabiki share is a Jusenkyo curse. Transformation curse, water aligned, old faerie magic. Doesn't look like spirit-magic will be effective, so the next thing to try is air or wood."  
  
There was much blinking.  
  
"So, you turn into an owl too?" Nabiki held her cooling tea and tried not to look suspicious.  
  
"Uhm, no. It's worse than that. I originally thought it was Spring Of Drowned Girl, because it looked like I just changed genders, but the Guide told me that it was Spring Of Drowned Amazon. Okay, I thought that wasn't a big deal. It turned out it WAS a big deal, though."  
  
Nabiki was tired of waiting. She threw the tea.  
  
Ranma changed, as he had indicated, into a girl. What nobody had expected was that the transformation was from embarassed boy to damn-near-hysterically panicked girl. "Hot water, hot water, hot water! Quick!"  
  
Nodoka had serious doubts about the manliness of her son.  
  
"What's the big deal, Ranma-kun, at least you stay *human.*" After spending time as a pygmy owl, Nabiki was much less impressed with Ranma changing into a busty redheaded girl.  
  
"You don't understand. This body is magically unstable! If I even accidently rhyme, a spell will go off. If I so much as sneeze, I could trigger a wild surge! I think it's possible to spellsing in this form, but I'd rather try and juggle fireballs. It'd be safer!"  
  
Shampoo asked why everyone was back to speaking Japanese. As she was asking this in her native tongue, nobody else quite understood.  
  
"Also the spells near me tend to either dispel or twist." Ranma was passing her previous state of panic and approaching apoplectic.  
  
Soun had finally recovered enough to rush in. "Well, that isn't so bad, and now that your mother is here we can hold the wedding immediately!"  
  
"Quick! Hot water before something happens." Ranma shook her head at Soun. "Mister Tendo, I never agreed to this marriage thing, what of your daughter's happiness?"  
  
FLAM! Purple flames gouted in midair.  
  
"That didn't rhyme," noted Nabiki as dozens of big yellow rodents appeared out of the purple flames and went racing off across the backyard.  
  
"Wild surge," said Ranma with a wince. "Looks like a crossdimensional tear. Well, it could be worse, like if it affected your Jusenkyo curse."  
  
PHOOM! Nabiki was limned in sparkles. "KASUMI! Get that hot water!" It was Nabiki who was now in Full Panic mode. "What did you do?!"  
  
"I don't know!" The redhaired girl looked exasperated AND scared now.  
  
"SAOTOME, WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY LITTLE GIRL?!" Soun began to manifest his demonic head attack.  
  
"I don't know! Something about her owl curse! All I know, it's probably, oh thanks Kasumi." SPLASH  
  
Nabiki twitched. (I'm really batting 100 here. First I go poking around in a magical lab, and get hit with a curse of raging libido, then I try to get a few photos, and get cursed to turn into an owl, then I get impatient and now...) "Uhm, Ranma, how do I find out what's happened to me?"  
  
Kasumi splashed Nabiki.   
  
"Whooo?!"  
  
"All it did was change your coloration, Nabiki." Kasumi smiled at her sister, making a mental note to research what pygmy owls ate and try to stock some of it. Maybe a nice travel cage for long trips...  
  
"Whewwwwww!" Nabiki-owl looked relieved, then held up one of her wings so that she could inspect it. "Whoo-whoo!" (Hmmm. No color vision in this form. I hope I don't moult. Hmmm. I could use a nice mouse right about now, wonder if Kasumi could stock a few.)  
  
"Well, son, I have some bad news," Nodoka said, pulling a piece of paper out of her sleeve and handing it to Ranma.  
  
"Hmmm?" Ranma looked it over. "What does a 'man among men' mean in this context?"  
  
---Shadar, 7th Age---  
  
Multitask vessels like Osprey class ships were rather a jack-of-all-trades approach. IE: it did a number of things fairly well, but none of them exceptionally.   
  
Osprey class ships were rated 25 tons in the "Djinn's Guide To Ships" and had a single sail vertically, plus a set of wing-sails to the side. They could land in water, though they wallowed, and it was normal for them to be set down on the ground. Their cargo capacity was quite limited, compared to the huge Albatross or Dragonsclaw class ships particularly. Smugglers and couriers tended to favor the smaller and more manueverable designs like the Peregrine or the Ferret. Warships ranged from the nimble Dragonfly II to the fearsome Kraken.  
  
Thurin Kaille had served aboard a Ferret once, a Kraken on another occasion, but tended to favor ships like the Sword class. Ships that were built sturdily, had a number of weapons, and could be used to ram when needed. You couldn't ram in an Osprey and there was only one weapons turret.  
  
The dwarf stared at the orders, cursed briefly, then called Stormshadow in. If ANYONE knew more about what was going on, it would be that damn sneaky elf. Or Yusef the Short, but the Bazaar was quite a ways off and the information specialist/barber was likely to require details of the finished mission as part of his payment.  
  
"You've read it?"  
  
Thurin jumped and turned around. "Don't DO that!"  
  
The elf smirked from where he was sitting. In the Captain's chair, naturally. "So what did you want, Captain? The mission objective is pretty clear."  
  
"Who are we waiting for?"  
  
The elf raised an eyebrow. "A cleric, healer I think, and an Amazon - probably from House Rising Sun."  
  
"A pacifist and an Amazon," Thurin groaned. "Do you know WHY we're going after Ranma? And get your boots off my desk."  
  
Stormshadow shrugged, but took his feet off the desk. "Officially, I don't know. Unofficially, one of the Emperor's espers had a 'seeming' that Ranma needed to get back and go through his Ordeal and soon. That's the rumor at least."  
  
"Let me guess, one of the ninjas from China Grove?"  
  
Stormshadow nodded and relaxed a little into his chair. "Yup. Got it one. So likely the Amazon's either from the espers or is a ninja."  
  
"I thought YOU were one of the Emperor's ninja."  
  
"Who, lil' old me?" Stormshadow did his best to look innocent. "Do I *look* like a Delphins?"  
  
"True, if you WERE a male Delphins, you'd be surrounded by a half dozen wives and likely not allowed to step outside for danger of something happening to you." Thurin actually chuckled at the thought. All the sentient races had different ratios of male to female, and that affected their marriage customs. He himself hadn't seen his wife in five years, but doubted that with the other four husbands that she missed him. Elves had a four-one female to male ratio, dwarves were one to six, most of the halflings were one-to-one or two-to-one, but the Delphins were twenty-to-one even using magic to encourage male births. As for nymphs, they never aged and lacked males of their own species.   
  
Silvara knocked hesitantly on the door. "Sir, the Delphins has just come aboard."  
  
Thurin and Stormshadow exchanged a glance. Silvara sounded... amused? It had taken Thurin awhile to place the chrome-colored nymph, he'd actually served aboard a ship with her and Ranma about three years ago.  
  
Stormshadow was deep in thought when an idea forced itself through. "Oh no. Don't tell me it's Garr."  
  
"Ah, Stormshadow, you're already there? Yes, it is." Silvara's voice indicated further amusement.  
  
"Get him belowdecks before we get mobbed," Thurin said, covering his eyes with one hand. "If the Southern Cross finds out HE'S aboard..."  
  
"We'll have Amazons trying to sneak aboard and hide to the extent that our weight allowance will be overwhelmed," Stormshadow lost his smirk. "And don't YOU go doing anything, Silvara, you know how easily spooked the boy is."  
  
"Awww, that's no fun."  
  
"So we've got a Tracker, that'll make some of this easier." Thurin admitted after a moment. "With his ability to 'find' things, it might not take long. Providing the cleric shows up before word gets out that Garr of Rising Sun is aboard."  
  
Stormshadow groaned at another thought, the customary smirk quite absent. "I think I know what the hurry is on this mission."  
  
"Huh? Well, enlighten me."  
  
"Garr is the same age as Ranma, right?" Stormshadow shook his head, not believing he had missed this. "Both are at the marriageable age for the Delphins, right? And Delphins are the closest match for human in general makeup, right? Want to bet that the Amazons petitioned the Emperor for Ranma to be included in a certain Coming-Of-Age rite?"  
  
Thurin blanched. "Not the Race? Oh, by the Seal. I actually feel sorry for the boy."  
  
------Tendo-ke, Nerima------  
  
Akane flumphed back onto the bed. "Honestly, P-chan, where did Kuno come from?"  
  
"Bwee!" (Clearly we are meant to be together, as soon as I vanquish the foul sorcerer who has done such a thing!)  
  
"I was just taking you in to warm you up, then he appears and tries to MOLEST me!" Akane shuddered. "At least he didn't hurt you!"  
  
"Buqiii! Snort!" (Ah, to worry about me so. Your love for me seeps out behind the vile spell that the sorcerer Saotome has cast upon you! Do not fear, for I am with you!)  
  
"And trying to tell me that Kuno was right here! Honestly, I don't see what Kasumi sees in that creep. I don't see Kuno, do you, P-chan?"  
  
"Bwee?" (Alas, my poor Akane, how terrible that both of us have been laid low by the demon's spells. You with this bewitchment that has you denying your love for me. Myself with this horrible shape. How can the Heavens not weep or resound in anger at this injustice?)  
  
"I don't either." Akane sighed and stroked P-chan as he crawled into her lap. "I've got to do something, P-chan! If I don't, he might marry Kasumi! She has no clue about him!"  
  
"Biii?! Buu... Biii!" (You mean he really isn't secretly pursuing you? How dare he ignore the grace and tidy beauty of my love! How... dare... he? Oh, Akane, how strong and soft your fingers are as they stroke me. I cannot wait to return to human form that you may do so properly!)  
  
"You like being scratched there, P-chan? That's my baby." Akane continued to rub along the mid spine of the pig snuggling into her lap. She had to save Kasumi! (He may not be a 'foul sorcerer' but he's *completely* wrong for Kasumi. I KNOW! I'll tell Doctor Tofu, he'll beat Ranma up, and we'll be rid of him!)  
  
-----------------------------  
  
"So, because I'm cursed to turn into a girl, and I'm not 'sufficiently manly' by these Japanese standards, I'm supposed to put a knife in my own gut, swirl it around some, and then act stoic while you cut my head off?" Ranma blinked. "You know, I thought that the DWARVES had some weird customs but this just blows them out of the water."  
  
Kasumi noted that Ranma's mother was quite serious, and looked at first as if she would faint. Then, in accordance with samurai ancestry, the steel began to show. (Mother or not, she is *not* going to kill my iinazuke on a snap judgement!)  
  
Nabiki-owl merely sped off to find some hot water. She REALLY needed to be able to talk.  
  
Nodoka nodded, unwrapping her katana. "Honestly, I cannot see how you could be sufficiently manly..." CLONG  
  
Lest anyone think differently, that last was the sound of a bonbori "slipping" out of the hand of a certain Amazon and knocking the woman in question unconscious. "Oops, Shampoo clumsy today. Very sad. Maybe make up for lapse with ancient Amazon custom of washing hair of prospective mother-in-law?"  
  
"No, Shampoo," Ranma said with a certain distracted air. (This makes absolutely no sense. Is this really my homeland?) "I'll have to admit that 'manliness' isn't something that I gave much thought to. The standards of each race and subculture is a bit different, but acting like a Southern Cross Amazon on shore leave after a five year mission doesn't fit into any sort of plan on MY agenda."  
  
Shampoo looked disappointed as she tucked the bottle of Formula 110 away.  
  
"What's going on?" Akane came down, looking askance at the group. Introductions had been made when Ranma had been trying to explain something about P-chan.  
  
Kasumi swallowed. "Errr. Ranma's mother says that because he isn't sufficiently 'manly' she's got to kill him."  
  
Akane blinked. "Well, admittedly, he ain't much..."  
  
"HEY!" Kasumi and Shampoo protested this assessment.  
  
"...but that seems a bit harsh." Akane pondered for a brief moment whether she ought to support this action anyway, as it would at least save her sister.  
  
"Shampoo ask that Airen put spell back in place that let everyone speak Amazon dialect. Shampoo having trouble following conversation."  
  
"Not enough manna for me to cast much, Shampoo." Ranma looked at his unconscious "mother" (still trying to get used to the idea he had one) and at all the girls, finally focussing on the pig rubbing his head against Akane's breast. "You know, she's really gonna be ticked when she figures that out."  
  
"Why do you keep picking on P-chan?" Akane grumbled at the boy. She liked the vaguely exotic pet, and P-chan seemed cleaner than most housepets.  
  
"Bwee!" (The foul sorcerer cannot cast spells currently? Alas that I am stuck in this foul shape, though held tightly between the soft white mounds of my True Love. Ah, what an interesting contrast, that I experience the hell of frustration and the heaven of my love's affection at the same time!)  
  
"Well, I'd better go replenish my manna. There's a couple of tricks for that." Ranma winced as there was *always* a tradeoff, but things were going too quickly to take his time with any of it.  
  
-----the Wildhorse-------  
  
"The first thing is to report at the Imperial Palace," Garr informed his Captain.  
  
Thurin grunted. He hated court appearances.   
  
"I'm to stay on the ship, for obvious reasons."  
  
Thurin grunted again. They'd barely escaped the dock after a horde had been sighted heading their way. Damn overprotective Amazons. Especially the young ones. Garr was an okay kid, but once the rumor had gotten out that there was a MALE of their species possibly going into danger...  
  
"Frosty will also stay behind."  
  
Thurin frowned at this. "He could go. He's able to shapeshift again."  
  
"He's even less comfortable in the Imperial Court than you are."  
  
"Not possible." Thurin couldn't believe anyone hated all that crap more than he did. Even a Healer priest.  
  
"After that, I expect we're going after Ranma."  
  
Thurin smirked. "Nope."  
  
Garr blinked and sat back. "OK. Why not?"  
  
Thurin's smirk turned into a grin. "Because, this didn't come from the Emperor. That elf has come up with three rumors he's overheard since we got aboard this ship. That we're going after Ranma because he's needed for a prophesy, because of the Race, or we're going to go rescue him from Wyndlace. No. This bears the markings of being of the work of the Third Empress."  
  
"In which case, anything obvious is not going to be correct." Garr cocked his head. "Actually I was hoping the bit about the Race was true. He'd take some of the heat off me."  
  
"Wishful thinking."  
  
-----------------------  
  
GAMING DATA:  
Shadar: (accessible only by accident and natives)  
Constitutional Monarchy  
Racial Breakdown (approximate)  
Humans: four individuals currently. considered to be  
legendary. the elder race from which the other races sprang  
Elves:  
Wood 45,000  
Sky 4,860  
Sea 12,900  
Ardrow 4,100  
Fire 19,200  
Dwarves: (heavyworlder)  
Steel or Desert 24,250  
Starfall or Jungle 18,520  
Shadarian or Hill 64,000  
Amberlake or Mage 3,100  
Ironhill or Mountain 21,000  
Reach or Deep 4,200  
Caivehi 4,200  
Kirrfolk 2,100  
Wolfen 7,900  
Rakasta 5,100  
Tortle 2,100  
Changelings  
Half-elves 4,500  
Half-dwarves 2,200  
Half-giants 900  
Half-dragons 50  
Halflings  
Burrowers 9,900  
Orahm 7,200  
Talf 11,100  
Kenku 950  
Decori 11,250  
Delphins 955,000  
Dragons 2,127 (per latest census)  
Reptine 3,100  
Mu 750  
overall tech: varies. mainly based on the use of psionically  
tuned crystals, some areas are late Dark Ages, other areas  
have movable type printing presses.  
Current Enemies:  
Feryl Amazons: remains of the spelljamming race of humans that declared war on the Delphins in such a fashion that the Delphins Houses agreed on a war of genocide. Currently operate mainly as terrorists.  
Boskone Empire: named by Emperor Shades after a fictional empire he read of in his home century. Necromantic intelligent fungi. War erupts sporadically between Shadar or Nihon and the Boskone due to the recurrent Maelstrom - a dimensional rift that appears between the two areas.  
Dead Lands: An evil mage 325 years ago settled some 12,000 miles from Shadar. He was later revealed to be the returned Broken Man, an immortal lich-king whose body parts were severed in the Fourth Age and scattered. Undead and eternal beyond even normal liches, the Broken Man rules his kingdom of undead and dark servitors, occasionally sending squads on missions to the lands where the living rule.  
Goblin Reaches: The goblinkin races were created as soldiers by humans in the First Age of Man. These lesser soldiers haven't organized anything beyond minor criminal activity since the Black Rose assassin Scarlet conquered the Gutslime Tribe of Hobgoblins.  
Pirates & Bandits: The most infamous group of pirates are the Dorona gang, using a modified Kraken skyjammer and operating in the area between Cross Isle and Shadar Hi. The most infamous group of bandits are the Red Rockets, who seem to be better equipped and better trained than what is normally expected of bandits.  
  
  
===============================  
  
A Different Art, chapter 4 "The calm before the extreme precipitation hits the fan"  
  
"Is manliness defined by the trials *not* faced?"  
-Jared Saotome, "Skysaber's Choice"  
  
-------------------------  
  
"So, let me just see if I understand this. After not knowing him for more than ten years, on the basis of his behavior in just under an hour, you've decided he's not 'manly' enough and therefore has to honor a seppuku pledge that he never knew he had made." Nabiki frowned at the woman sitting across from her and her two sisters. "Does that sound about right?"  
  
Nodoka looked across at the three and frowned ever so slightly. "Well... yes."  
  
"Oh, I'm sure it's not that bad. He's arrogant and conceited and an idiot, THAT'S manly!" Akane pointed out as she held P-chan on her lap. "He's clueless, and that's pretty manly."  
  
"It might help," interjected Nabiki, "if you explained what you considered manly."  
  
Nodoka adjusted her kimono slightly, and noted that someone had applied superglue to the tsuba of her sword- it would take some work to free the blade from the scabbard at this point. Sighing, she began. "Manly behavior is based on three principles. Properly manly behavior towards the opposite sex: such as peeping, sleeping around, and being forward with affections even in the face of rejection."  
  
"Being a pervert is manly?!" Akane blinked. "No WONDER all those guys act like that at school. It's their mother's fault!"  
  
Nodoka favored Akane with an odd look. "Secondly, manly is also a matter of honor. A TRUE manly man would not hesitate to commit seppuku for a pledge even if made unknowingly in a previous generation! Errr, by the way, where is Ranma?"  
  
"He's renewing his magic. He said the sooner he gets home 'where everything makes sense' the better." Nabiki shook her head. (If *I* came to my land of origin without knowing better, and encountered this sort of attitude, I'd probably want to go back where I'd just exited from too.)  
  
"The third is the principle of personal courage. If he were a TRUE manly man, as Genma had promised, he would have accepted his duty." Nodoka dabbed at the tears on her face with a fine hankerchief.  
  
"So, if Ranma were to sleep with a girl, he'd be considered manly?"  
  
Akane and Kasumi could only stare at their sister.  
  
Nabiki proved that she *could* blush as she hadn't realized that she had spoken aloud. "Well, uhm... He's profitable. AND I have to admit that certain things said about this other world intrigue me."  
  
"Such as?" Akane wondered what could get Nabiki to make such a sacrifice. Unless her other sister was under a spell too?! That fiend! (Waitaminute, I'm beginning to sound like... Kuno. Eeeeeewww!)  
  
"Bweeee!" (Kill the varlet! The Heavens themselves demand his life for smiting the mighty Tatewaki Kuno and turning him into such a vile form! Sitting in Akane's lap proves well her love for me, save where the evil one's spell has ensorcelled her! Ah, Akane, how I long to do this in my true human shape!)  
  
"Cut it out, P-chan, that tickles!"  
  
All three of the other women present winced as P-chan nuzzled Akane's lap as if in search of wayward crumbs, the mood completely broken.  
  
"Uhm, Akane, you know the Jusenkyo curse I've got," Nabiki said as calmly as she could. She'd accept the change of subject as it seemed that the seeds of doubt were already planted and needed some room to grow.  
  
"Well, yeah," agreed Akane.  
  
"You know how it works. Hot water to reverse, cold water turns me into an owl. Right?"  
  
"Yeah, Nabiki. What's your point?"  
  
"Now, when Ranma was pointing at 'P-chan' and telling you that Kuno was right here?"  
  
"Why are you going on about THAT? Look, he was picking on P-chan! Big bully!" Akane was getting a feeling like something she didn't really want to think about was about to be said. "P-chan, stop squirming!"  
  
"Bweee!" (Water is the key to breaking the spell! I must find some hot water that I may be reunited with my love in my human form.)  
  
Nabiki growled, feeling like she should get up and shake her sister to try and get her to understand. Only the very real chance that she'd be missing teeth kept her from doing so.  
  
Kasumi poured some hot tea into a cup and handed it to Akane. Except that for some unexplained reason Kasumi dropped it. "Oh my! I'm sorry Akane."  
  
"Akane Tendo MY LOVE!"  
  
"Aaaaaaaa!" Akane shrieked as a naked Kuno wrapped himself around her.  
  
Nabiki looked directly into Nodoka's eyes and inclined her head towards the amorous Kuno and her frantically struggling sister. "Now, I take it this means that Kuno-baby here is 'manly' in your book?"  
  
Nodoka agreed, but sounded a little unsure of herself.  
  
--------------------  
  
Ranma frowned as the information began accumulating. He was having trouble replenishing his magic reserves because of a basic problem with the local magical energies. There was a taint of chaos EVERYWHERE in the flow of magical energies, and the level of manna he could tap normally was lower than he liked it.  
  
This was good news *and* bad news to Ranma. The good news was that it wouldn't take much of the right kind of dispelling to break his curse. A Healer priest could probably do it without much effort. If he could find the right counterspell, it wouldn't take long to weave the correct pattern, filter out the chaos, and then cast it. The bad news, and it was a doozy, is that if he went back home to cure the curse it could be strengthened by the higher ambient magic levels. Certainly it seemed to be the sort that grew stronger as the strength of the victim increased.  
  
Another thing for the Very Bad pile was that he was currently using a technique with two circles of power and a tap into the nearest feng shui junction just to recharge his normal spell load. WITH filters in place, it could take him days to recharge just what he'd cast in his first week. During spelljammer operations, he'd met a few wizards (mainly from that Toril place) that memorized spells and then released them. In Shadar, one spent time learning a spell, and as long as one had enough manna one could cast that spell.  
  
The lowest cost spell one could cast was something like the Image Sphere, just pushing light around and partially translucent. Unfortunately, Ranma was so used to using magic that to suddenly have to mind the costs was counter to habit. The spellsinger, tapping into wild magic, might have access to a bit more power as chaos seemed to have a local influence.  
  
After more than six years learning how to pull in manna, store it, pattern and use it, NOT using magic wasn't an option. Maybe he couldn't cast a Dragonform spell while here, but he could still use Fireball.  
  
Then there was the problem with the chaos infecting his spells. Ranma wasn't sure what would happen if he tried some of his more powerful magics like Nike's Wings.  
  
Shampoo looked around the chamber and wondered if she could make nice with the doggie.  
  
-----Shadar-------  
  
The world was a sort of Dyson sphere, though that wasn't the term the inhabitants and most visitors knew it by. The great Shadarian Empire stretched out over thousands of miles. There were three neighbors, each of which was only a few hundred miles across themselves. The Goblin Reaches was an island seven hundred miles long that was populated by goblins, orcs, hobgoblins, kobolds, ogres, twisted ones, trollak, and other types who ruled by strength. Nihon was a kingdom largely composed of Delphins Amazons of House Rising Sun and was less than four hundred miles at its longest point. Finally came the Free Kingdom, despite the name not a kingdom so much as a large group of people who didn't want a single unified ruler and preferred to work without rules forced upon them. So mainly there were a lot of little rulers. Still, if you added each nation and empire and included the little outlying villages you ended up with less than one hundred thousand square miles of islands in a big ocean.  
  
Scarcely a drop in the bucket. The inhabitants merely called it the world. Visitors called it big.  
  
And in all that big, one 4'5" dwarf was trying not to track mud into the Imperial Palace and swearing under his breath all the way.   
  
There were a large number of races mainly united through the Empire, though regional governors and the like tended to take care of the discrete clumps of them. So, of course, a trip through the outer areas of the Palace tended to present one with a wide variety of those communities' representitives. Unfortunately, this meant that one could be trampled or could accidently trample another. The halfling races (so called because each race was about the same size - roughly half the size of an elf and it was a convenient tag) were over a head shorter than Thurin, and pixies and the like even shorter. Then there were the bigger races, the nine foot tall ogrii and twelve feet long mu. And then there were Amazons and dwarves who were representitives for races who physically couldn't leave their homelands or tolerate this environment for whatever reasons.   
  
Which made for a colorful chaos in the Outer Circle. Then one made one's way to the Inner Keep and things changed considerably. A few dwarves, a few elves, and LOTS of Delphins. He was passed through, though he had to check his axe Mountaincutter at the front. He was allowed to keep Wraithsfire due to respect for his beliefs. Thurin took some delight in Stormshadow being shaken down, though he was somewhat impressed at the number of hidden weapons unloaded. Silvara had no weapons, and the Amazons covered their dislike of nymphs fairly professionally.  
  
Finally they reached the Inner Court and Thurin suppressed a gasp.   
  
Stormshadow merely knelt, fist to chest, head bowed. Silvara DID gasp and stare.  
  
The Emperor himself. Like Ranma, one of that near-extinct elder race known as humans. A young warrior from another space and time who had come and conquered - mainly through attitude and luck during a time when kingdoms had been shattered and laid waste by the Godswar. Now old and shriveled, thin flesh and scars over thin bones. The eyes, though, the eyes were still sharp and clear.   
  
"First off, yes, as you can see the rumors are true." The old man's voice was a dry rasp that Thurin had to strain to hear. "Longevity potions and spells eventually stop being effective. I am at the end of my days and will go to join my First Wife soon. About time too. I never wanted this damn job."  
  
Thurin nodded. One of the endearing traits of the Emperor was that he had never actually sought power, merely accepted the responsibility when it came down to it. Which, in the minds of many, made him the perfect man for the job. He generally stayed out of everyone's hair (those races that had hair) except to make sure that the various factions never started pushing any of the other factions around. The ninjas, the dragons, and the mu were enough for most threats.  
  
"None of my heirs want the damn job either," continued the Emperor, eyes glittering. "Proving that they've got SOME sense at least. Heh. But I'm gonna see SOMEONE else stuck with the job before I pass on..."  
  
"Not the kid?!" Thurin recovered and bowed an apology for his outburst.  
  
"Pfeh. That Ranma? Hardly. HE has enough sense to weasel out of the job too. Though he's gonna go through SOME of my problems, and it'll be amusing to see someone else deal with 'em." The Emperor coughed a bit before resuming. "No, when he does get back he'll go through his Ordeal, and I've little doubt he'll both survive and pass- making him a Sapphirerank. I'd ordered him left alone as far as female companionship was concerned."  
  
Silvara nodded and murmurred agreement to that.  
  
"Oh, Stormshadow, DO get up. I've known you for over four hundred years now and you know damn well I can't stand all this prissy court stuff." The Emperor glared at the elven troubleshooter. "Where was I? Oh yes. I ordered him to be 'hands off' otherwise some of the Amazons or nymphs or even those elven lasses would have dragged him off as soon as he was old enough to leave Lijra's tower. Stormy there's been keeping an eye on him since he started adventuring, though low profile. Now that protection is about to end."  
  
"The Sadie Hawkins Race, my liege?"  
  
The Emperor glared first at Stormshadow for the use of a title, then at the Amazons still guarding the chamber. Neither was phased in the slightest, having endured such things for years. "Whoever dug up that ancient story and presented it to the Delphins should be shot, hanged, and drawn and quartered. EVERYONE knows how the Delphins take ancient concepts and find a way to fit it into their cultures. Hell, Ruine even discovered that House Rising Sun based their entire culture on a series of ancient holovid dramas about samurai and ninja. Though blonde beachbunny ninjas..." The Emperor shuddered slightly. "Fortunately there ain't many. Still, the Race is the best place for Ranma to determine who (and what) he will marry. Garr of Rising Sun and Izak of Southern Cross will also attend, standard rules.   
  
"According to the mu, Ranma will re-enter our world soon. Something goes wrong, though, and he is accompanied by others." The Emperor made a face as if tasting something vile. "One of whom is an Analogue of the girl known as Scarlet."  
  
SCHINNNNG! Many weapons were drawn simultaneously, only to have the embarassed Amazons slowly sheath them again.  
  
"There is to be NO repeat of the previous disastrous series of events... You've got a blank look on your face, Thurin." The Emperor looked amused again.  
  
"Who is Scarlet, milord?" Thurin still couldn't think of anyone with that name.  
  
"Emperor, may I?" Stormshadow waited for the Emperor's nod. "Scarlet, like Ranma and the Emperor himself, was a traveller from offplane who arrived here by accident. She was discovered wandering in the desert, not dressed for the occasion, by Rebas the Diviner. Rebas determined the girl was lost and alone, and rescued her.  
  
"Rebas had his little desert oasis, and had patterned his lifestyle on legends of ancient sheikhs such as those from Al-Qadim. Initial spells apparently determined that she was a very nice girl, and therefore he didn't take some precautions that he might otherwise have. She awoke, tended by nymphs dressed in keeping with Rebas' tastes, amid a feast and swirling dancers and the like. Upon finding herself dressed similarly (due to her own clothing being laundered), she proclaimed Rebas a pervert and killed him with a large blunt instrument. She escaped during the confusion that followed. Evidence suggests that she hadn't known that snapping the man's neck had killed him.  
  
"Scarlet turned up next in a tavern frequented by Amazons of House Southern Cross and House Northstar. She reacted loudly and negatively to the presence of 'Amazons' and when asked if she was confusing the Feryl with the Delphins replied that all Amazons were the same. Naturally, several of the Amazons were about to forcibly correct this attitude when things turned even worse.  
  
"One of the pacifist priests, a Healer, named Danyd of House Northstar, attempted to restrain Scarlet and stop the fight. Again she produced some sort of warhammer and brought it down on the apprentice Healer. He died. Scarlet later protested that she didn't expect anyone to die just because their skull had been crushed. Three other Amazons ALSO died trying to restrain her. Due to her actions, the White Temple cannot heal her, even if they try. Southern Cross, Northstar, and quite a few nymphs swore bloodfeud with Scarlet.  
  
"Apparently, Scarlet went underground for awhile. When she resurfaced she'd learned the assassin's martial arts style known as the Black Rose. As long as she stayed in the Goblin Reaches, however, she was safe. On occasion, someone goes hunting for her and never returns. Also on occasion, someone is assassinated with the Black Rose style, and Scarlet is among the chief suspects. At least until recently, there are rumors that she returned to the world from which she came."  
  
"Fair enough summation," the Emperor agreed. "However it turned out that the girl DIDN'T intend to kill. Once she had embarked on a path of denial and violence, however, the Rules Of Magic came into play and her karma sped her along that path. By the time my ninja and espers had untangled the events, she was already being indoctrinated into the Black Rose cult. She went on to become a power of death that was useful where she was, the Goblin Reaches. With her in power, the incursions of the Tribes were greatly reduced. With her having slain many of the upper echelons of the Black Rose, THAT group was also weakened.  
  
"The White Temple may have forgiven the loss of a promising Healer. So, even though Scarlet had to require on potions for healing thereafter, they didn't pose much of a problem to this girl returning eventually. Like most of the ninja, they regard her as having come under the Rules for Tragic & Flawed Hero. The AMAZONS on the other hand, well, killing a child, a male of their species, AND a pacifist cleric was about the most reprehensible thing that could be done short of an event like the one that started the Feryl-Delphins War."  
  
Muttered grumbles from the various guards in the chamber indicated their agreement.  
  
"In any case, another such instance is to be avoided at all costs," the Emperor said, settling back into his throne. His hand moved a lever, which altered the throne into a recliner. "I grow weak now. This audience is at an end. I leave you with one final command. If Ranma returns with others, they will likely be human as well. Warn them of the Rules of Magic, and do your best to see that they end up in the roles they would have chosen. But if ANY look to become dangers to the populace and security of the realm - end the threat as quickly and mercifully as you can."  
  
Thurin began reconsidering the problem on the way back to the ship. Originally he'd thought that Ranma would be sought, as the Wildhorse had one of the old spelljamming helms and the ship had performed flawlessly under the mage's direction. For everyone else, it wallowed.   
  
----Eyecatch------  
  
A mob of armored, sword wielding, orcs go rushing across the screen to exit Stage Right. A moment later, they trudge from R to L, now clothed solely in boxer shorts.  
  
Camera pans right to reveal Nabiki with several large bundles marked "Swag" and operating a gambling table. She winks at the camera.  
  
"Next!"  
  
------China--------  
  
Private Huang Li ran. The price for desertion from the Chinese Army was death.  
  
Being shot to death was preferable to some things.  
  
The effeminite Westerner continued walking around the village as if looking for something. The bullets had had as much effect as a thrown grenade. Zip, nada, nothing.  
  
A panicked call by a retired Colonel had brought Huang's company running with an APC. Some sort of weird westerner using biological weapons? Or maybe someone had just gotten ahold of some of those pesky mogwai again. Like anyone paid attention to the rules about getting them wet or feeding them after midnight. So they'd come locked and loaded, ready for a bug hunt.  
  
The last Huang had seen of his APC was that it had become a transforming vehicle. A grisly series of pops and crunches with accompanying screams had told him what had occurred to the remainder of his squad. The APC was now a suitcase-sized box in the middle of the road.  
  
The town *seemed* deserted, but there were a lot of cows about for some reason.  
  
The Westerner was THAT way. Which was why Huang Li was running THIS way. Besides, he needed to warn people. HIS village wasn't that far away.  
  
-----Japan-------  
  
Genma snuck along. With any luck, he wouldn't have to face Nodoka until MUCH later. Though her name meant "peaceful" - she was awfully fond of that sword.  
  
Grumbling along in his wake was his eight year old daughter. She was *not* happy. "Why can't we go home, anyway, Pop? Mom's not gonna be as mad at you as she was after all that Catfist stuff."  
  
Genma shuddered at the memory of THAT. (Who the heck reads all of the manual nowadays? That woman can be *so* unreasonable!)  
  
Midori let out a deep breath, and tried to find some pleasant aspect of the situation to focus on. "Well, at least you'll get to visit that friend of yours while we're *hiding* from my mother." (Honestly, couldn't I have gotten better parents? My mother trusts my father, even AFTER crap like that Catfist training and the engagement to Satoshi, and the...)  
  
"That's true," agreed Genma, brightening slightly. Maybe he could get a game of shogi in with his old pal Soun. And maybe he's remarried and had a son! We could still unite the two houses! His eyes tracked towards the green eyed girl who was trying to put on a cheerful face. (If I mention it in front of Midori, then she'll go straight to Nodoka and give everything away. Best to keep it quiet for now.)   
  
"Well, at least it isn't raining!" Midori managed to chirp before the clouds started thickening overhead. "Oh, CRAP!"  
  
The rain pattered down on the panda and son briefly before the boy pulled a girl's umbrella out and started muttering about how difficult it was to try to keep a "positive mental outlook" with a father like Genma.  
  
Genma tried to look hurt, but the panda didn't quite pull it off.  
  
------------------  
  
Ranma regarded the two girls sitting just outside the circle and then his biological mother.   
  
"Two words! PORK CUTLETS!" A shout from elsewhere in the house announced that Akane had located P-chan again.  
  
"So you're withholding judgement?" Ranma asked curiously, not able to leave his current position without disrupting the flows of energy.  
  
"For now," Nodoka agreed. "I may have been over hasty in my judgement."  
  
Kasumi nodded.   
  
Shampoo looked at Kasumi, her expression unreadable.  
  
Ranma shook his head, not understanding. "Well, whatever the case. I think I've got a lock on some of the problems and can wrap things up here soon."  
  
"RANMA! YOU MUST MARRY..." Soun slammed into the outer ward.   
  
"I'm sorry, Mister Tendo. I've heard the Emperor doesn't want me to marry until after my next Ordeal."  
  
"Ordeal?" Kasumi asked politely, of course.  
  
Ranma was grateful to be able to talk about something familiar, as opposed to marriages and the like. Wasn't he too young? Heck, elves didn't marry until they'd passed the century mark. Dwarven women were in their forties before they took their first husband. Besides, Kasumi reminded him too much of Lijra. It just didn't seem right.  
  
"The Ordeal is something the Mage Guild worked out centuries ago. Only those who pass their Ordeal are allowed to proceed into the next rank. The one I passed to become Emeraldrank involved a Trial By Combat, some fruitloop named Wyndlace challenged me." Ranma rolled his eyes at the memory. "You know, that was one of those elves that give the rest of 'em a bad name. He felt that because I had received four battlefield rank advances, I had to go through four Ordeals to make up for it. Nobody else agreed, and when he hit me with four Ordeals wired together, KHARON got incensed.  
  
"Anyway, what Wyndlace hit me with was the typical Locked Room trial. A cage with anti-teleport wards being slowly lowered down a cable towards a lava pool. So I'm hacking and coughing from the fumes while I get a Telekinesis spell off and lift the keys from one of the guards. The guards start SHOOTING at me, making me use a Shield spell, then one of 'em pulls out a *morrani* dagger!"  
  
Everyone, including Soun (who was still rubbing his nose) noted how Ranma had put emphasis on that word.  
  
"A 'moranni' dagger?" Kasumi politely inquired.  
  
"Morrani. Developed thousands of years ago by the elves, even during the worst days of the Elven Empire though, they never used *them* that much." Ranma noted that nobody looked as if they understood it. "Look, moranni weapons have a blue-black glow to them. Just being in the room with an unsheathed one is pretty horrific, you *feel* the blade's presence. They're a shard of the True Death, you even get nicked by one and you might die from it. And if you die from a moranni weapon, that's it, you can't be brought back and there's no trace of your soul as far as magic can determine. They're *evil* - even goblins and orcs won't usually touch the damn things. Sorta like having a poison that taints everything it touches and that actively WANTS to kill everything around it.  
  
"So, even the animals that Wyndlace had around to attack me are fleeing. Trained attack snakes or not, even really vicious dumb critters can feel the presence of a moranni weapon and want as far away as they can. Wyndlace held that this invalidated the Ordeal.  
  
"Kharon and the Council came down on Wyndlace like a dwarven blacksmith on a beer. Not only did he have a damn moranni weapon, he entrusted it to a low level hireling- tell me that THAT wasn't a disaster waiting to happen. Not only did he overstep his boundaries with an Ordeal of that fatality level, but then he tries to bargain with Kharon. Dumb, really dumb. You can't bribe or argue with Kharon, you cross him and you're damn near crossing the Emperor.  
  
"So he's looking at demotion or censure. THEN he goes and compounds the problem by making an attempt on my life just prior to his sentencing. Four hundred fifty years old and STILL an idiot. So last I hear he's facing permanent exile or worse!"  
  
Everyone was silent, having tuned out at various points.  
  
Soun had tuned out at the thought that back where Ranma came from, it was possible to return from being dead.  
  
Kasumi thought about how horrible these Ordeals sounded and how she just wanted to hug Ranma and give him some reassurance.  
  
Nodoka considered the references to battlefield promotions and wondered how much Ranma had actually seen.  
  
Nabiki noted that it sounded like this "Emperor" had a personal interest in Ranma. And if so, might not a clever individual be able to use that closeness to curry favor with the wealthy?  
  
The sounds of violence being committed downstairs indicated that at least two individuals weren't paying much attention to any of this.  
  
------------------  
GAMING DATA:   
  
Crystal Matrix- a form of technology developed in the Sixth Age that is still mainly in the rudimentry stages. Crystals grown in the Storm Zone have proven to have some odd properties such as being able to be "tuned" to a different effect and store magical *or* psionic energies. Unfortunately, storing the energy in an untuned crystal usually causes a small explosion. Skyjammer engines usually consist of Levitation stones set as the strips of a rotating cage. The angle of the cage around the central core as well as the speed of the cage, determines the speed of the ship and angle of ascent/descent.  
Mage cannon are normally barrels of brass or some similar metal, hinged, with the insides composed of an array of spell crystals. Fire, force, ice, and lightning mage cannon have been developed by the Delphins for ship-to-ship combat.  
  
oh, and i used moranni as it's better than Deathshard (what they were called years ago in the game), and they are *similar* to Steven Brust's "morganti" weapons. Not the same or i would have adopted the name entirely.  
  
  
  
==============================  
  



	2. Default Chapter Title

  
A Different Art 5: Travel  
  
many char originally by R.Takahashi. Current treatment by G.Sharp, metroanime@mindspring.com  
Chapters 5 & 6 have a large number of crossover elements with another fanfic series: "Skysaber's Choice" by Skysaber (which isn't general release YET)(1). There are also Other Author Inserts in chapter 6. Aftermath takes us back to primarily dealing with the Ranma cast, those who dislike OAI & Xovers should skip from about halfway through this chapter through the first few scenes in 7.  
Some scenes written or suggested by Skysaber. A brief synopsis of "Skysaber's Choice" is at the end of this chapter.  
  
"If that is a perfect relationship, then Road Rage is an expression of love..." M.Wright  
  
-------------------------------  
  
It has been said that time is like a river, not without some accuracy. For the main it flows in one direction, inexorable and relentless. It also has eddies and backflows, odd loops and sargasso-like dead regions, places where it speeds up and others where it slows down. Time has even been known to flood, jump its banks, or even get dammed up in a few areas.  
  
It can also, like a river, be bypassed or traversed as long as one finds a way to move other than drifting with the current.  
  
Time is also just a function of Reality where the fabric of space is stressed by mass. It all depends on your point of view, mainly. Quantum physics, if it doesn't confuse you, you haven't really thought about it.   
  
So, if one goes by the river analogy, time flows from a source to a destination, only to end up cycling over again. There may be tributaries of various types. And several rivers may empty out into the same lake or ocean.  
  
One of these oceans would be located roughly 14.5 billion years in Earth's future/past. A world very different from 1992 Nerima Japan and Earth of that era. And in that world were those who might be considered gods by some.  
  
These were beings who were born AFTER Earth had become a cinder, but who had also watched Earth being born. Time and space and matter were all concepts that they barely understood, or if they did, chose to ignore most of the time. They had enormous power, but also enormous limitations - being constrained by their nature in a manner that mortals were not. To some they would be known as Elder Gods and spoken of in hushed whispers. Other referred to them only by the color of the Temple that preached the philosophical bent of their patron, and did their will upon the Multiverse.  
  
In Aramar of the Seventh Age, there were nine of these beings, with six others of slightly lesser power but greater freedom.  
  
And in the world of Aramar, in the Seventh Age Of Man, in a world where there were currently less than four humans but millions of sentient inhabitants, in an empire named Shadar, there was a temple to one of these Beings. That particular being a White Temple, whose priests and followers were Healers. Sworn to lives of chastity, charity, and to nonviolence.  
  
Healer priests could not use weapons or wear armor. This did not equate with helplessness as even the vilest of orcs knew better. And, of course, just because the Healers were loathe to cause injury didn't mean that some of them were more than adequately equipped by nature or training to do so.  
  
And in a White Temple in the city of Emeraldis on Cross Island in Shadar, a priest knelt in prayer vigil. And, as this was a world where magical spells and otherworldly beings could be found, the priest found a message.  
  
The priest looked up, surprised, at the white cross that symbolized his order. "My lord?"  
  
An onlooker would have heard nothing else, though the priest listened quite attentively.  
  
"Yes, milord. How will I know her?"  
  
Again the priest listened, though the only sound was the chirping of birds in the distance and the rustle of leaves in the chill air.  
  
"Your will, milord," said the priest, who literally would not *think* of disobeying. Questioning, that was completely different, but going directly against a request - never. "Though wouldn't Sister Akieris or Sister Beren be better for the job?"  
  
The priest listened again. "As you will. It shall be done. What of the others?" More listening. "I see... Politics again. In that case, I go."  
  
The priest left the temple, brushing silver hair back from his face to rest behind ears more tapered and long than those of elves. Eyes the same color as the hair reoriented as to what direction he was standing, and the slender form of the priest blurred and expanded.  
  
The silver dragon Frostbite snapped his wings out and headed back to the Imperial Base. He had his mission.  
  
-----------------------  
  
The Emperor had several information resources open to him. Ninjas, espers, diviners, and even the Al-Qadim halfling barber known as Yusef The Short ("short of stature, long of wind, deep and wide in knowledge") on occasion. He wasn't the only one to know that Ranma Emeraldrank would be returning to Aramar soon.  
  
Yusef ("humble Yusef, you seek, I find; you pay, I tell") made a few discreet comments about the matter of a returning mage to known interested parties.  
  
Lijra, drow archmage, made plans for welcoming her adopted son home.  
  
The Amazons of House Southern Cross made plans for catching Ranma during the Sadie Hawkins Race. Strategies and psychological profiles were discussed. Potential matchups were bantered about. Tower floorplans were reprinted and redecorating ideas mentioned. The same identical thing was occurring among the Amazons of House Rising Sun, House Northstar, House Valkyr, and House Red Sands.  
  
The Amazons of House Ironhill were planning on cheating in the Race, but as usual would arrive "fashionably late" - which was never a good idea when the event in question was a race.  
  
House Greenfield, House Seawave, House Dusk, House Cathay, and House Silvermoon were less involved, as they figured the odds were unfavorable. Besides, they were minor Houses of the Delphins, and they had work to do with the current border skirmish and hunt for those pesky bandits.  
  
The Amazons of House Southern Cross were also making entirely different plans involving one of those who some omens suggested would arrive with Ranma. And if Scarlet DID show up, all it would take was one indication that this was the same sort as the Scarlet who had arrived over two hundred years ago, and she'd have so many crossbow bolts in her she'd resemble a porcupine. Or maybe they'd just turn her into a common dryad and have her bound to a tree, that way she'd never be any trouble...  
  
A small group of Amazons from several Houses united in a common purpose had grabbed the refitted Hammership owned by one of their number and now continued to shadow the ISS "Wildhorse" just to be sure that someone was safe and cared for. Human was (after all) largely similar to Delphins in appearance.  
  
The Silver Temple at CrestHill was prepared for visitors to minimize the amount of culture shock and effects of the Rules upon any new guests. Bad enough to face physical alteration based on one's own mental baggage, but if one had to face it based on *other's* perceptions...  
  
A recently arrived human named Keian The Wanderer ended up in a bar named Jester's Rest where he met a young sky elf named Cloudrunner. He was fascinated by her wings, her beauty, and the fact that here was a sympathetic listener. She was fascinated by a mythical human in a poor disguise (dressed like a wood elf? with that much metal?) who was facing up to the changes in his environment quite well all things considered. After the first hour, he was fascinated by her stories of adventuring on "skyjammers" and mage-engineers and that this elf girl was an accomplished cleric. She, in turn, was fascinated by his tales of a *very* different civilization on a world called Dirt or Soil (she wondered if the translation pendant was screwing up again). Three hours later, the two had a sort of Plan...  
  
The ISS "Wildhorse" left Cross Island, skirted the Zone near Northpoint, and prepared to pass through the Worldgate at Shiprock. That *someone* would be following them was not unexpected. That the pilot of that other ship was sufficiently skilled that it took two hours to visually confirm it was not. Nor were the various anti-detection spells layered about the other ship. Only by reading the "dimple" in the flow of magical energies could it be determined that the ship was there by the most. That they were there to guard Garr was quite understandable considering that the Race had just been moved up to a mere week away.  
  
Two other recently arrived humans, all having been accidently summoned through the timestreams by the same Mage, were having very different experiences than their colleague. One had insisted on being sent back immediately to his home plane. Unfortunately, the wizardess was just as bad in her aim returning things as she was at summoning them. THAT human found himself on a slightly different Earth, the year 232 AD, and in the Chinese Imperial Court. The other human found a ship going in the right direction and sailed off to beseech ANOTHER mage for a trip home.  
  
Sjul, the mage had who accidently plucked three humans from something called "20th Century Earth" and brought them forward, checked her equations a third time while trying to find out where she had gone wrong. Sjul, a lovely young ardrow who was Lijra's little sister, eventually decided to try again with an extra Ring Of Mastery and a hastily enchanted Temporal Beacon. Prudent persons took cover in the immediate vicinity.  
  
And in the region known as Nymia, where nymphs and faeries dwelled, a date was noted. The Race was soon to arrive. Many of those present had plans on attending this year, as it sounded like it would really be a wild event. There was even supposed to be a few of those HUMAN males participating this year, and you KNOW what they said about them... (nudge nudge wink wink)  
  
One normally associates dragons with being sixty feet+ long, winged and reptillian in appearance, and generally being sufficiently tough that common creatures flee in terror at the mere sight of one. It is lesser known that *some* dragons can and often do take a more humanoid form that they could walk unnoticed among the throngs and eat something besides raw fish or overcooked meat once in a while. It is much lesser known that some dragons identify more with the thronging masses than with their own species. And then there was Tarre and Aura.  
  
Tarre was, most of the time, a particularly slinky half-ardrow with black hair in a thigh length braid, dusky skin, and a shy air about her. Hakima and others who could see through her guise would see a black dragon adolescent with scarred scales in several areas. The shy and underconfident air remained no matter what form she wore, because this was real. Tarre had just been freshly hatched, you see, when she ran into a band of goblins. They had spent quite some time beating and torturing the creature. Eventually the little dragon had woken from a particularly savage mauling to find someone had defeated her tormentors and was looking inside her cage. Tarre had been recruited as a "moat monster" and had been well treated for many years by the humans within, but had learned that her "Master" had not been happy about a normally evil creature serving under him. Tarre had suffered some heartbreak from that, and that her Master had eventually died before she could earn his trust. Tarre listened to the tale of the Race and a gleam entered her eyes that had been missing the past week. A chance to get a new "Master" - and she could *prove* she was trustworthy! She would catch him, marry him (whatever that meant, she wasn't entirely clear on it other than it involved some lifetime commitment), and she would guard his castle and protect him! A perfect plan!  
  
Aura, on the other hand, was proof that humans and dragons could intermarry, though spells had been required for the union to bear fruit even with the transformation abilities. Aura was a young golden dragon who chased rainbows and played around the city of Emeraldis. She was also a playful young teenage girl who dreamed of marrying some hero (or being the hero that rescued her True Love), fencing with the Kharonian sabre, and was quite unable to master any number of ladylike skills despite frequent effort in those regards. She was also a natural flirt. Aura was also the third Princess of the Imperial Shadarian throne, descended from the Emperor's Second Wife, and fairly handy at the Imperial Brewery. Like Tarre, she noted the Race with anticipation, and that she was finally ready to run it! And there was at least one (more were unconfirmed) HUMAN (just like Dad) men participating in it! If she could just shuck the chaperone, she was sure that she could nab one.  
  
-----------------  
  
Ranma stopped his research as a small gemstone, carefully enchanted and set above the mantle, exploded.  
  
As he had before, Ranma used Hobgoblin swearwords as the harsh language was particularly well suited for such things. He added a choice promise, that if it turned out to be Tatewaki Kuno again, that the samurai would be the recipient of a Stone To Flesh and a garden hose in very short order.  
  
Tatewaki was spared becoming a fountain, to the disappointment of many no doubt.  
  
Kyor had gone back into stasis, Akane had given up on trying to kill P-chan (she just wanted to vent severe displeasure), and Nabiki and Kasumi had finally convinced his mother to give this "manly" concept a rethink.  
  
"Screw this, I might as well just go home. I ain't ever going to get serious work done in this madhouse..." Ranma grumbled and pulled out a scrying mirror. "This *better* be good.  
"Magic mirror, hear my plea,  
Seek ye out the menace to me,  
Project it forth that I may see."  
  
Ranma sighed and put back the mirror. "Damn thing hasn't worked right since that lich threw a Disjunction at me."  
  
A crystalline disc was removed from his bag next. "Crystal spellbook, let see...  
"Divinations, Omens, & Portents. Alahandra's Questing Call, Amazing Guess, Analyze Device, Analyze Magic, Artifactual Discourse. Maybe a little further on?"  
  
"Divination Obscurum, Diviner's Malady...no. Further on?" This *was* a problem of the crystal spellbooks. A long time ago, an adventuring wizard named Selman the Scribe had come up with the idea of enchanting a mirror so that one could scry one's own spellbooks while they stayed safe and dry in one's own tower. That a decently complete spellbook could weigh in excess of thirty pounds, and a high level mage could need access to five or six of the damn things no doubt contributed to this concept. (Another mage developed channelling as an alternative form of magical energy access.) After centuries of refinement, a disc of enchanted crystal actually became the spellbook. Special spells were needed to scribe spells into this "virtual spellbook" but the crystals didn't warp when wet or get singed when your opponent constructed an invisible wall right after you've cast a Fireball. Other spells and refinements were added. Unfortunately, most of these spellbooks contained roughly the equivelant of a magical library after a few generations. Spells were duplicated, odd variations catalogued, less efficient versions copied, and thousands of spells who served little or no useful purpose cluttered it all up.  
  
"NEXT time, I'm putting up the extra gold and getting a damn INDEXING function!" Ranma declared emphatically. "Ah, here it is. Improved Clairvoyance, aka Nimodes' Useful Vision. Letsee."  
  
Ranma was a generalist mage. While he typically used channelling, and a set of spells he could cast almost by reflex, he could muddle through the spellbook. The Corps, the Imperial Mage Corps, was a good teacher. Even if it was a paramilitary organization sponsored and run by the Emperor and what had to be some thoroughly sadistic wizardesses. Particularly the ones in boot camp.  
  
Another interruption came as someone knocked on the door. Kasumi and Nabiki came in, followed by Nodoka and Shampoo.  
  
"Son," began Nodoka, holding up a small radio, "do you have any friends you're expecting?"  
  
----------------  
  
The streets were deserted. It was enough to spook even a war correspondent. No sign of life, even the animals were quiet. The first car in had taken fifteen minutes to figure out something was wrong, then find a phone.  
  
THAT call had abruptly gone dead.  
  
Everyone, of course, thought nerve gas. The Self Defense Force was considered briefly, but the Police felt they could handle it. A massive mobilization took place, and SWAT and Hazmat teams swarmed into Toyama shortly thereafter.  
  
The communications went dead, one after another after another. As the elite forces sent in HAD and knew how to use gasmasks and other environmental protection, the situation was upgraded. Planes flew overhead and got pictures of those deserted streets, abandoned vehicles, car wrecks and turned over food stalls, all of which painted a nasty little picture.  
  
Over 17,000 people. Gone, but not without a trace. They had left their clothes sitting out in the street.  
  
The situation had gone from Curious to Alarm to Full Scale Panic. Then the press had gotten involved and Full Scale Panic was vying for position with Embarassed and Annoyed.  
  
Then reports began coming in from Uozu, then Kurobe, then Nagano.   
  
Then someone got into Toyama and reported that there were no people or animals he could find, but someone had left a lot of dolls in their places.  
  
Uozu was the site of a major battle with the SDF now fighting an animated train that kept trying to eat the surrounding buildings and people.   
  
In Kurobe was a menagerie. Wildebeests, rhinoceros, elephants, tigers, antelope, monkeys, and dozens of other species, charging panicked through the streets.  
  
Nagano, as Toyama, was largely deserted. Except that a large number of children seemed to be wandering the streets.  
  
The devastation had stopped, but then restarted again in Kofu where there was a report of fires being started. By a dragon. The SDF was scrambling fighters.  
  
That these sites were getting closer and closer to Tokyo did not go unnoticed.  
  
------------------  
  
"Think it's someone you know, Ranma?" Nabiki asked, quite concerned.  
  
"Could be transformation spells or summonings, but they sound pretty powerful." Ranma went to musing. "I've got some pretty powerful enemies but I didn't think any of 'em knew where I was going or how to get here."   
  
"You have enemies?" Shampoo checked her weapons.  
  
"Oh yeah," Ranma said with a dismissing gesture. "Schroda is Diamondrank and is a Feryl, but it doesn't fit her modus operandi. She'd be having wives murder their husbands and children to join her as an army or turning all the males in her vicinity to pigs or something like that. Infernalle *could* be that dragon, but I'd expect her to fly crosscountry, not use the roads. Drotek the Dweomereater *could* do this, but I'd have expected him to use golems again. The Dorona pirates *might* have a high enough level mage, but they usually act a bit more subtle until their actually ready to move. Those Red Rocket bandits are flashy enough to advertise their presence like this, but they'd be looting everything in sight even if they had an artifact of sufficient power to do this.  
  
"That leaves few. VERY few. But who..." Ranma tried to picture the acts and place a name with it. "Ratsfahr's dissipated for the next thousand years, *and* it ain't his style. Hentai - this so ain't his style it ain't funny. Wyndlace? Lacks the power. Krolis would be raising undead. The Broken Man's minions ain't likely at all. None of my *rivals* would do it, they'd just show up and start trying to show me up..."  
  
"You have rivals?" Shampoo looked up from sharpening her sword briefly.  
  
"Well, yeah. Ame Furu, she's an Amazon esper of House Rising Sun. Specializes in divination. Then there's Delacourt, he's an elf wizard out of the capital, *really* has a major attitude." Ranma thought about it. "Closest rival I have who *could* conceivably do this is Sjul. Her magic tends to go wrong anyway, so if she came here the higher Chaos factor *could* cause her spells to run wild.  
  
"I doubt it's her though." Ranma thought a little longer than shook his head. "I don't know who yet, but maybe if I can cast this spell, I can get a clue."  
  
"Well, son, I would suggest that you get to it." Nodoka found that her son taking this all in stride was a little alarming.  
  
------------  
  
Thurin growled. As a dwarf, this was slightly less effective than if, for example, one of the lionlike caiveh had done so. "Do you have a make on the ship?" ~Please, by the Seal, let it *not* be the Yo'mama.~  
  
"Yeah," came Garr's voice over the speaking tube. "It's a hammership. Registry I haven't got. They've got a level four cloak. All I can tell is they're nonhostile and predominantly Southern Cross."  
  
There was a sigh of relief from the entire crew. Today was a good day to do something other than dying. The Yo'mama was a battleship, and it had a reputation. It survived, and it completed each mission successfully, but serving as a crewman was viewed as a death sentence. Being a nearby ally wasn't exactly safe either.  
  
"Send message," the dwarf instructed the esper. "'Wildhorse to unnamed ship. We are on the Emperor's business, request you break off pursuit.' Use standard psi & semaphore."  
  
There was a brief silence. "No response, other than they dropped back a few hundred ship lengths."  
  
"Silvara?"  
  
"I was going to call you," said the nymph's voice from the speaking tube. "Indications are that this segment of the Deep Ethereal's got some turbulance and a polarity shift."  
  
Thurin's scowl deepened. "A group of lusty teenagers following ain't enough. With those omens and portents about bringing Ranma back now, THIS fits all too well. How long do we have before the dimension storm cuts off contact between this set of planes and home?"  
  
Silvara's voice was interrupted by the sound of a ratchet. "For this ship, less than twelve hours. It's that hammership I'd be worryin' about. They're not constructed for heavy ether turbulance, and it's likely a green crew."  
  
"I know. Garr, signal a warning to 'em as soon as they're on a direct line. We'll just pop in and..."  
  
Thurin was interrupted by Stormshadow's voice showing a touch of irritation. "Feryl signature detected. Looks like a group of warwitches surfing the turbulence."  
  
"Send THAT to our shadow, but tell 'em to stay away." Thurin grumbled. "Feryl. Just great."  
  
Stormshadow's voice through the speaking tubes was punctuated by a few shudders in the ship as the ether rippled around the Wildhorse. "This does seem to bear out the rumors that the Feryl survivors are attempting to set a base out in the boondocks. Unable to get more detail, but that could be anything from a small group of scouts to a full invasion armada."  
  
"They don't *have* an armada," said Garr with racial pride showing. "My Amazon sisters have taken care of those baby-killers."  
  
Thurin didn't dispute that. He didn't agree with it entirely, as the Delphins homeworld had been among those obliterated and made uninhabitable, but there are some arguments that you can't win even if you're right. He was also old enough to remember the last large-scale battle between the Delphins and the Feryl. "Silvara, you hear?"  
  
"Yeah. Hang on, I gotta adjust this. Look, we just got the one mage cannon. Signal the hammership to close with us. Tell 'em we could use the escort. That'll keep 'em from going off to fight the Feryl on their own, plus they'll be close by if the storm starts pullin' their ship apart. Since that design has a higher number of weapons than us, they'll believe it."  
  
Thurin smiled. "Silvara, that was quite well reasoned. Make it so."  
  
"Sugar, I'm over six hundred years old and an engineer. Don't confuse me with some elf."  
  
There was a snort of derision that could only have originated from Stormshadow.  
  
"Do it, Garr. How long till we intersect the insertion point?"  
  
"Four hours," came Frostbite's voice from the chartroom. There was a pause but the transformed dragon didn't speak further.  
  
"Hammership 'Little GTO' is responding, sending back an acknowledgement and hope that you're not going to report them to their commanders," said Garr with a tone of humor.  
  
Thurin smirked in a manner similar to Stormshadow, which would have mortified the dwarf if there had been a mirror handy. "We'll take it under advisement."  
  
--------------------------  
  
"Delphins," said Parici in the tone usually for speaking of beasts.  
  
"Where?" The captain toyed with her eyepatch, as if contemplating unleashing the Beast contained in the gemstone that had replaced her left eye.  
  
"Trying to trace now. The storm makes it difficult for us to scan them as well as for them to scan us." Parici scowled at her crystal as if to intimidate it into revealing the beast-lovers to her.  
  
"Get one of the spare beasts to the altar. Read its entrails. Use one of the breeders, we might have use of the workers later."  
  
"Captain, there are plenty of beasts on these other worlds, shamefully cohabitating with women of those worlds."  
  
"Good point, we can always restock." The captain nodded. "Do it."  
  
"Yes, Bural." Kle left her post and drew her Maiden's Kiss. Sharp enough to cut, dull enough to hurt, the wavy curved seven inch blade was a symbol of the Feryl. When a Feryl male had served his duty and was to be converted from breeder to worker, it was usually the Feryl mother-to-be who used the blade. Kle had a fondness for the duty.  
  
"Locate the ship but do *not* attack. Monitor and track their course. We'll attack after determining where these degenerates are going."  
  
"And if we find they've beasts aboard?"  
  
Bural fixed Parici with a cold glare from her remaining eye. Impertinent wench. "Standard procedure. We'll pass them around, blind and hamstring the breeders, geld the ones we'll keep as workers, and then use 'em in the cookpot when we've tired of them. Satisfied, First?"  
  
Parici grinned as she turned back to her instruments. "No, Captain, but I hope to be very soon."  
  
---------------  
  
Genma was beginning to cheer up. Yes, he transformed into a panda. Yes, this was another thing that his often-unreasonable wife would look to as a major failure.   
  
Yet, there was something wonderful about this. His eight year old martial artist daughter Midori was (with a suitable application of cold water) his eight year old son! The old agreement with Soun could still be accomplished! All he had to do was take Midori there, introduce them, and the engagement could take place immediately. Then, all he had to do was wait for Midori to reach minimum marriageable age at sixteen, and one of Soun's daughters would make his daughter a wonderful wife.  
  
A perfect plan!  
  
Midori had absolutely no idea what his father was thinking about, or the violence would have been brutal and immediate. Midori was, uncharacteristically, sulking. He had to wear unisex or male clothing, he couldn't wear makeup, he had to settle for a simple ponytail, he couldn't flirt with cute guys. This was yet another case of his father putting him through HELL. Being a boy was just *no* fun. ~Just wait till Mom sees this.~  
  
--------------  
  
Tatewaki Kuno fled. He ran, ducked, dodged, and hid behind objects whenever possible. He cursed the spell that Akane had been placed under but realized that he could not break it until after he had been transformed back from being a pig.  
  
Akane pursued. Normally she could be a nice girl, if prone to sudden fits of overwhelming violence and some serious issues about her own feminity within the existing Japanese paradigm. She had currently been pushed past the point where a brief burst of violence would sate her inner demons. The target of this need was her pet P-chan, now revealed as being Tatewaki Kuno. The innocent nibbling of her breasts and rubbing against her most private parts by P-chan had turned out to be not so innocent at all.   
  
And everytime that Kuno transformed back, he would grope Akane under the assumption that he had already done so as a pig and now couldn't be denied his reward.  
  
Akane was at the point where pounding once on the pervert was not sufficient. It had never worked in the past anyway. Serious dislocation of joints was called for.  
  
---------------  
  
"TAROT CARDS?!" Nabiki was aghast.  
  
"The spell requires a focus, it could just as easily be I-Ching sticks, tea leaves, or the entrails of a dead pig." Ranma shrugged. Why ask why? The spell worked and divination wasn't normally his strong suite anyway.  
  
"But..." Nabiki just didn't like the idea of something so mundane. Ranma had said that this was a difficult and powerful spell, but fairly efficient for the amount of power.  
  
Kasumi flipped one up to inspect the face and froze.  
  
Seeing her sister staring at the card, Nabiki took a quick peek herself. "The Lovers?" Nabiki smirked at seeing how Kasumi's eyes were wide and she was turning quite red. "It's in the cards, eh, Kasumi? I..." Nabiki glanced back at the card. ~That's MY face?! Who's that guy?~  
  
"You don't want to do that, Kasumi." Ranma covered the card. "These are magical. If you aren't careful you could doom yourself. Once revealed like that you pretty much limit your choices in the future."  
  
Nabiki waited for Ranma's back to be turned before she flipped a card up, checking to see if her face was on more than just one. A coppery scaled dragon was curled around some treasure hoard on this card, when the head raised itself from position of rest to regard Nabiki briefly and wink. Nabiki very hurriedly put the card back and decided this wasn't as mundane as it had originally appeared.  
  
"In any case, all of you should wait outside the outer ring. This is mainly because I need your influences filtered out before I try to read the situation." Ranma indicated the outer circle he'd just drawn around the table.  
  
"Gotcha, sort of a magical 'clean room' huh?" Nabiki could understand it, sort of. Noting that Kasumi was still staring as if paralyzed, though now wearing what would be a silly-looking grin on anyone else's face, Nabiki helped her sister out to a safe position.  
  
Ranma looked at the cards, shuffled them, lit the two candles, and cast the spell.  
"Spirits of eternal light,  
Grant a glimpse of your sight,  
Reveal to me within time's flow,  
What I must do, where I must go.  
Powers of truth eternal I ask,  
Aid me in this simple task."  
  
The cards started dealing themselves. Six cards formed a cross shape before the candles abruptly went out.   
  
Nabiki looked around, there had been a feeling as if a presence looming from the time that Ranma had started speaking until the candles had extinguished themselves.  
  
"Aw, crud." Ranma slumped. "More trouble."  
  
"What is it?" Kasumi crossed to innermost circle though she couldn't seem to look directly at Ranma without blushing for some inexplicable reason.  
  
"Interference. Can't get much detail other than there are three major problems heading my way." Ranma tapped the "Devil" card. "This one indicates a darkness or evil approaching. It isn't always the meaning, but that's the impression I'm getting. It's modified by the 'Fool' and 'Seven Of Amazons' cards to indicate that this isn't a particularly competent evil and there is a warrior associated with it."  
  
Ranma tapped the left branch of the cross. "The card here is 'The Grail' - in this case it is modified by the cards of 'Force' and 'Chariot' which makes me think we'll be getting visitors real soon - allies."  
  
Ranma tapped the right branch of the cross. "The 'Excalibur' is modified by the 'Hermit' and 'Moon' cards. In this case, it seems to evoke an image of some crazy but powerful figure- no doubt the one that's making a mess in those cities. It's also the source of the most powerful interference, which means an Anti-Scrying Amulet of at least Level Four."  
  
The lowest branch of the cross was indicated finally. "And the final set. 'Chaos' modified by the 'Gathering Storm' and the 'Halfling'. An indication that I need to return home sooner than I had planned."  
  
"How soon?" Kasumi looked on in concern. Seeing herself and Ranma on the face of the "Lovers" card had caused her equilibrium to go all to heck.  
  
Nodoka frowned, wondering why the drawing on the "Lovers" card resembled herself and Genma when they were younger.  
  
Shampoo smiled to herself, having seen herself on the Lovers card, riding some fearsome dragon. Clearly this meant she should go with Ranma to this fantasy world. And just imagine Hiba-chan's expression when she showed up at the village with THAT.   
  
------------------  
  
There is a law in several universes regarding coincidences. They happen.  
  
Genma and Midori became aware that something was wrong. No special martial arts skill was necessary however.   
  
Anyone walking down the street three feet above the surface was sufficient indication that there was something decidedly odd going on. Said person laughing maniacally and being preceded by swarms of bats was a further clue to the observant. Even Genma was able to pick up on the concept that this guy with the pointed ears was bad news when several uniformed police officers attempted to apprehend him, and were promptly turned into... well Genma wasn't quite sure what those spiky critters were.  
  
"Porcupines," Midori managed to somehow gasp as she dragged her father (even more impressive as he was in panda form at the time) along behind her at a high speed run. "He turned seven cops into porcupines!"  
  
[So that's what those were!] Genma's sign wasn't read by his daughter due to his position behind Midori. [Funny looking things, kinda like sea urchins.]  
  
Wyndlace, powerhungry villain if a bit effete, decided to have a bit more fun. Especially as those two appeared to be going in just the right direction.  
  
Besides, both of them bore the Jusenkyo power signature, and Wyndlace could recharge himself with that. Then he could use the power focus in his hands to expand his power even further. Ranma would pay, and pay dearly, for losing him his standing among the mages.  
  
----------------  
  
Kle wiped the satisfied smile from her face before entering the bridge. Each slice had been a delight to inflict. Carefully done, one could keep the victim not only conscious but screaming through the entire process. It was an artform, and many of the Feryl were just too squeamish to do the job properly. Still, the prevailing attitude was that only Feryl counted as people. Only human, only female, as was right and proper.  
  
"Report, Kle." Bural's eyes sought out her subordinate.  
  
"There's a male of the Delphins aboard one of the two ships, and they are currently going to retrieve a male who is important to their future." Kle wet her lips in anticipation. Everyone knew that male Delphins produced strong babies, though the males didn't seem to last long in captivity.  
  
"Excellent," hissed Bural. Promotion, power, forgiveness for that little blunder involving dumping the washwater out over SubPrefect Metallica's head. All within her grasp. "Pirici, follow the ship but keep us hidden. Robyn, signal the 'Hand Of Mercy' and 'Divine Justice' and have them follow discreetely."  
  
"Like *those two* will learn 'discrete' all of a sudden," Robyn griped from the signal dome.  
  
There were some comments from those remaining about the divvying up of the spoils once the Delphins ship had been cracked. Bural let them. And a few of those Delphins could become zombies under her command with the new spell she'd picked up.  
  
---------------  
  
"Mark that. Eighty seven ships of under three tons, sixteen in the fifty ton variety, and four hundred-tonners. Three have broken off to ride the currents closer."  
  
Thurin blanched. "Three of the hundred-ton Baseships?!"  
  
"Errr, no sir," Garr's voice was apologetic. "One of the fifty ton ships, two of the under three ton variety."  
  
There was more than one sigh of relief. "Can you make out the class on any of the three?" Thurin asked with a gleam in his eye.  
  
"Too much interference, and if I use a strong enough psychic probe that fleet's sure to have someone capable of detecting it." Garr used a tightbeam transmission to the "Little GTO" to inform them of the odds. The hammership signalled back an old Amazon saying: "Today is a good day to die, but it's a better day to get some cuddling done after the fight." Which had replaced the old saying of "Make love, make war, make cookies. Just not at the same time."  
  
"Okay, people, they'll probably wait for us to re-enter Etherspace before they attack." Thurin growled as he considered the odds. "We're faster than most of those ships out there, so we can outrun 'em. The Baseships especially, some of the smaller ships might be as quick. We're not here for a fight so let's just get our objective done, then relay to the Houses that we found the Sixth Fleet."  
  
"So the whole thing depends on how fast we can find Ranma and crossover again," Silvara summed up.  
  
"I have a tracer on his position," volunteered Frostbite. "When we get to the appropriate spot, I'll let you know the proper angle and velocity to use to ensure that we appear within ten dragonlengths of him."  
  
-----------------------  
  
The Emperor gave a wheezing rattle and paused before his bright eyes sought out one in the shadows. "Kage."  
  
The shadows solidified into a man dressed all in black. He knelt, as was usual, in silence.  
  
"Kage," the Emperor addressed his ninja, "I have at best a year."  
  
"Milord, you are..." The kunoichi in red that appeared as if from nowhere flinched under the Emperor's gaze. "My apologies, my Emperor."  
  
"Kids," said the Emperor in a long-suffering tone. "No respect for their Elders. In any case, Kage, I have *at best* less than one year to live. AND NO MORE comments from *you*, Sakura!"  
  
The kunoichi managed to look contrite.  
  
"The problem is, who do I appoint as heir?"  
  
Kage remained silent. He was, after all, a ninja.  
  
"My children, excepting Aura, are all grown and have their own lives." The Emperor chuckled. "They've got enough intelligence that none of THEM want the damn job. And yes, that includes my great-granddaughter here..."  
  
"Grandfather," Sakura winced at the dreaded Grandfather Glare and went silent again.  
  
"So, of my blood, my choices are: a few merchants, a couple of rogues, three explorers, a couple of clerics, the best damn brewmeister in the Empire," the Emperor said this last one with a fair amount of pride, "a teenage dragonling otaku, a clumsy kunoichi esper, a patrolling paladin, and the Nihon ambassador. No clearcut choice in any of 'em."  
  
Kage continued to inspect a point of the floor in front of him silently.  
  
"I know, I know." The Emperor waved. "But the merchants aren't the settle-down type. All three of 'em are in the business of moving things. Celeste is a shipwright. You remember her, blonde out of Southern Cross, from my Fifth Wife, y'know. She's always coming up with this or that idea and wanting to try it out. If I appointed *her* she'd always be off at the shipyards anyway. Thakar runs everything from his ship, I can't imagine running an Empire from that old Turtleship of his. Donalle, she'd never last five minutes. Takes everything too seriously. That's fine when you're a glassblower. The rogues? Hell, Maybeso wouldn't ever show up, and when he did nobody would understand what he was telling him. Umi would just steal everything that wasn't nailed down.  
  
"The explorers are even worse. A barbarian Ranger of House Northstar, a Druid, and a Senpsi. Ain't one of 'em could settle down long enough to make a go at it. The clerics are a cleric of Toltiir and a priestess of Relat, so *they're* out. What can I say, they were from my Fourth Wife, and you know how well *we* got along. No way I'm depriving the Empire of Mungo's services at Shades Of Ale. That leaves Aura, Sakura, Usagi, and Tanken."  
  
Kage neither moved nor spoke. He was a ninja, after all. Or maybe he had fallen asleep.  
  
"What about Ranma?" The Emperor gave a sidelong glance at the kunoichi and was rewarded with the sudden blush at mention of the young mage. "He doesn't want the job - proof he's intelligent, responsible, has a fair sense of honor. He's human so he's neutral as far as the racial politics are concerned. But no... I promised his mother that I wouldn't do that without notifying her. Lijra is a hard one to bargain with."  
  
Sakura's sigh of relief was clearly heard.  
  
"Besides, I think Aura's interested in Ranma."  
  
Sakura went from relieved to flustered.  
  
The Emperor considered. "Kage, I'm old and need a mission performed for me by someone who is supremely skilled in the Art Of Stealth. I'd do it myself but these old bones, you see. What I need is reconn, and done with the utmost discretion."  
  
Kage straightened, proving that he hadn't gone to sleep after all.  
  
"Nihon is no threat. They value their independence from us, but they are our staunchest allies. The Free Kingdoms on the other hand are a bit of a hotbed. A handful of petty fiefdoms and baronies, each of which wouldn't last five minutes if I unleashed Southern Cross against 'em. Together, though, they might yet threaten us. Particularly if any of 'em find something of Winston's old kingdom. Go forth, investigate these rumors of a new Warlord rising to power among them. Report back to me before taking any action. They're not exactly our allies, but they're not currently enemies."  
  
"Unnn," agreed Kage before leaping into the shadows and vanishing.  
  
"Sakura, I have a mission for you."  
  
"Me?!" Sakura's eyes filled with tears. "At last! Grandfather, I won't disappoint you!"  
  
"The Nihon Empire *is* our staunchest ally. Their independence serves their interests and the interests of Shadar quite well. I need corroboration of something brought to my attention. Supposedly within the twisted inner court of Rising Sun is an Amazon named Tekii. See if you can check into the rumors of her having possession of the Eye Of Twilight without getting into too much trouble."  
  
"Yes, Grandfather!" The perky shorthaired kunoichi ran to the door and was gone after only tripping once along the way.  
  
"Tekii doesn't have the Eye Of Twilight, that's currently one of the items in Baron's hoard near the Goblin Reaches." A tough-looking youth stepped in after the kunoichi had left.  
  
"Yes, Ferio, I'm quite aware of that." The Emperor chuckled. "This keeps her out of my hair for awhile and she'll feel useful."  
  
"She's gonna be ticked when she finds out that she's missed Ranma participating in the Sadie Hawkins Race."  
  
"The little war between Aura and Sakura had to be ended. This *might* do it." The Emperor sighed. "I only hope Ranma gets caught, I don't think I can take too many years of this."  
  
"You've only got one year, I hear."  
  
"Promises, promises."  
  
-----------------------------  
  
There were a lot of races on Aramar, only a few of which were known to Shadar. Some were well known and accepted with varying degrees of tolerance. Some were tolerated only in individuals. Some were tolerated only when absolutely necessary and then not trusted even as far as they could be thrown.  
  
Pipsqueak was a goblin, one of the races of genetically engineered soldier-slaves developed in the First Age of Man. A creature built literally for war. Small so that large numbers could be crammed in a troop transport, quick breeding rate to replenish numbers, immunity to a wide variety of bacteriological agents, high tolerance for radiation and a number of other conditions normally found in a 24th century battlefield. Vision into the infrared, ability to digest darn near anything organic, tensile strength sufficient to allow suborbital drops at rates that would kill a normal human.  
  
Intelligence wasn't normally high on the list of priorities for designing the perfect grunt soldier. But there were always exceptions, such as the current ambassador to Shadar from the Goblin Reaches. Hence, Pipsqueak.  
  
Pipsqueak kicked back, feet on the desk, enjoyed the dim lighting of his quarters, and tried once again to explain something obvious to his aide.  
  
"Look, even you and the other two morons ought to be able to grasp this. Our job is dependent on peace and trade between the Goblin Reaches and Shadar. As long as we remain hostile, but not *too* hostile, trade is sporadic but constant. There's no danger of our lands having to deal with the Elders or elves or any of these other rich bastiches. In the meantime we got our hands into *their* pie, understand?"  
  
Looking into their eyes, Pipsqueak could tell they didn't. He wondered again at the "human" names the Emperor had insisted on using, but decided they were probably insults in that odd "English" language. In which case, he'd continue to use them. "Moe, Larry, Curly, I've got a mission for you!"  
  
"Yessiir, a mission!" Moe saluted smartly. Well, relatively smartly.  
  
"Oh boy! A mission!" Larry attempted to salute smartly but ended up knocking over the contents of an endtable.  
  
"Nyark!" Curly attempted to salute smartly, forgetting that he was still holding a warhammer in that hand. "Ungggg." Thunk  
  
"When Curly wakes up," continued Pipsqueak, "tell him the details. It has occurred to me that you could be of help in one of the local factories. While you work there, of course, you will be spies and report back to me all you see."  
  
"Of course, boss."  
  
"Anything you say, boss."  
  
Pipsqueak smiled as they dragged their fellow off. After a few days, no - *hours* of those morons helping out, the merchants would pay him to keep those three out of their businesses.   
  
"Ambassador," came a grunt.  
  
Pipsqueak retreated a little before the hobgoblin. Like goblins, they were a genetically engineered slave-soldier race. Hobgoblins had been a different approach though. They were also considerably more tolerated than goblins in the Empire, as Hobgoblins actually had a history of honoring treaties.   
  
The red eyes of the hobgoblin seemed to weigh Pipsqueak in a heartbeat and dismiss him as of no consequence. "Thought you'd want to know. Ranma's coming home."  
  
"WHAT?!" The goblin fell off his chair, glaring at the hobgoblin when the other chuckled. "I thought I had a few months more at the least."  
  
"Word on the street is he'll be in the Race." Sever smiled with yellow teeth at the goblin. "And if *he* is in the Race, then someone else will be in the Race. I know your propensity for 'fixing' certain events, goblin, do NOT interfere with Megumi of Rising Sun. It would be bad for your continued business."  
  
"Don't threaten me, I'm important here."  
  
The hobgoblin snorted. "You're a small fish. The samurai is off-limits. I owe blood-debt to her, if she has a chance at her chosen mate, you will *not* interfere."  
  
"Blood-debt? To an Amazon?"  
  
"I don't particularly care for her choice in mates," the hobgoblin said with narrowed eyes. "A mage-boy. That's her look-out. A group of troubleshooters came to my village because of a ghost-witch. When we wouldn't cooperate, she challenged me to keiyang sh'to. She beat me, fair and square. She's a warrior, make no bones about it. A warrior who got *my* respect."  
  
Pipsqueak nodded. The hobgoblins had a lot of strange customs and rituals, but the "duel of dominance" was known to him. "So she beat you, got her mission done, turned you loose."  
  
"You're not as dumb as you look." Sever considered Pipsqueak for a moment. "I owe her a blood-debt, that's really all you need to know. Interfere with her, and..."  
  
"Right," the goblin nodded. Disagreement with armed violent professional mercenaries was not on his day's itinerery.  
  
Sever nodded back. Before he left he couldn't help but wish the goblin a nice day.  
  
------------------  
  
Some say time was created so that everything doesn't happen at once.  
  
As anyone who's worked retail will tell you, sometimes everything happens at once anyway.  
  
Genma, now dragging Midori, fled the stream of fireballs and ducked into a familiar house with a familiar shingle proclaiming this as the Tendo Dojo.  
  
The air split open over the house, revealing two ships that by all rights should not have hung in the air nearly as well as they did.  
  
The mage who had just thrown a Melf's Minute Meteors noted the energy signature of multiple wardings, a *major* Protection Against Evil, the two ships and that his most current prey had run to ground. He may have been running on way too little sleep in the past seventy-two hours, but he felt that he could handle Ranma, no problem!  
  
The crew of the two ships noted that the front door of the house below them had just been the recipient of a Siege Bolt spell. After exclaiming that they had found the place, they readied the ropes for a drop and grab.  
  
A koi in the pond behind the house dove to the bottom with the sudden premonition of doom.  
  
Kasumi, Nabiki, Shampoo, and Nodoka managed startled noises as Ranma used a Mass Teleport.  
  
----------------------  
  
There was a brief moment of silence. Then the Tendo ancestral home, rebuilt after WWII, exploded as Wyndlace cast a Fireball *inside* the house. As all of the appliances were fueled by natural gas, there was considerably more than what Wyndlace had expected, knocking *him* off his feet.  
  
The smoke cleared, revealing a bombed out shell of a building.  
  
Genma and Midori, smoking somewhat from the explosion, were lying where they had been thrown.  
  
Soun pulled himself out of the fishpond to go into shock at the sight of what had once been his house. "Aaaaa!"  
  
This brought Genma up, who didn't immediately notice that he had turned back from being a panda. "Soun, my old friend! Man, whatta dump."  
  
Soun was past hearing. "My house..."  
  
A light flickered and several forms appeared.  
  
"Aaaaa! My house!" Akane's hair was standing up.  
  
"I think my room used to be..." Nabiki started salvaging what she could find.  
  
"My kitchen!"  
  
"Pardon me, son, but is that person over there the one who's responsible for this?"  
  
"Wyndlace?!" Ranma stared at the elf. "Yeah, I guess he is."  
  
"Thank you." Nodoka inclined her head. SCHINNNNNNG (for the uninitiated, that is the sound of a katana being rapidly drawn.)  
  
"Flesh to Stone." Wyndlong dealt with the immediate threat first. "Ah, Ranma, now I can destroy you utterly. First, I think I'll turn that young lady hiding behind you into porcelain, then I'll..."  
  
Akane attacked. So what if this guy was floating two feet off the ground and had just turned Mrs Saotome into stone? A thrown frypan knocked him down just fine.  
  
"Nice shot," remarked Ranma, a little surprised that it had worked.  
  
"You shut up, he's here for you, so it's YOUR fault." Akane had turned to yell at Ranma, then noticed the elf getting back up. "And as for YOU!"  
  
"Shardspray," cast Wyndlace, gesturing with the rod in his hands. Hundreds of razor sharp pieces of shrapnel struck Akane. "Ranma, you shall pay for this a thousandfold."  
  
"Ranma?" Genma grabbed Soun and asked for a quick rundown on the situation.  
  
"Very well, Wyndlace," Ranma said, frowning. "So be it. Just you and me."  
  
"Then die, knowing that your associates here will..."  
  
Whatever Wyndlace had meant to say was cut off when an anchor, weighing roughly ninety pounds, spiked to hold in a variety of surfaces, and having fallen roughly thirty five feet, impacted directly upon him.  
  
"It is not wise to discount Amazons of House Southern Cross," called down a woman from one of the strange floating ships.  
  
"What are you doing here?" Ranma called back.  
  
Stormshadow leapt from the ship, landing lightly on the ground nearby in a "cool" pose. "Because Ranma, if you don't leave now, you may never be able to."   
  
Ranma listened to the explanation of the dimensional storm and the Emperor's orders. "Well then, it *does* look as if I need to return home. Mr Tendo, this should cover the repairs to the house."  
  
Soun caught the bag of gold and smiled until it was roughly pulled from his hands by Genma, whose eyes nearly popped from their sockets at the sight.  
  
"Akane's dead," Nabiki looked at the tattered ruin and tried to keep from falling apart at her sister's casual death.  
  
"Hang on," said another figure as he came off the ropes. "She's not dead yet. We can take her with us. As soon as we hit etherspace I can heal her. But we need to hurry."  
  
"What?! But she..."   
  
The silver-haired man regarded Nabiki briefly. "I could try here, but there's a lot of Chaos magic floating about and it might not be safe."  
  
"I see," said Nabiki and Kasumi as they considered this, a bit too much in shock to fully react to seeing their sister cuisinarted and then this talk about fixing her.  
  
------------------  
  
She walked into the tavern as if she owned it. Yea, though she walks through the Valley Of Death, she feared no evil. Because she knew she could kick its butt and had on several occasions.  
  
Some knew her as the clumsy Imperial Princess (descended from the Emperor's Sixth Wife) who would cry and fail classes at the Academy. Some knew her as having the blood of the supernatural within her, though few knew what the mother had actually been, while those who knew called her 'aasimar'. Some knew her as the Knight Arcane Rabbit, a Chosen of the gods Etragar and Hoshime to go out and accomplish great deeds.  
  
Most people around here knew her as the wandering paladin, Usagi Shades.  
  
Usagi dismissed her armor as soon as it was apparent that the overall evil in the tavern was of the garden variety sort. There was a sigh of relief among some of the patrons as it was apparent that no one was a candidate for purification today.  
  
"Hard day, Rabbit?" The dwarf poured her usual. Earl Grey, hot.  
  
"And it's not even the Hour Of Middens," confessed the blonde warrior-maid. "Bandit giants in the Deep Hills, giant spiders (yuck!) in the mountains, low-trolls in the forests..."  
  
"Need some good news, d'ye?" The dwarf chuckled and winked. "I hear someone's going to be participating in the Sadie Hawkins Race."  
  
Usagi smirked. "Garr? I hear enough about the competition there, thank you."  
  
He smirked at her briefly before saying a single word. "Ranma."  
  
*crack!*  
  
Usagi, being a paladin, apologized for the pieces of shattered teacup and spilled tea.  
  
Thuyir merely shook his head and started cleaning up the mess, pointing out to the Princess that she had cut her hand. Such a minor wound was obviously beneath her notice.  
  
"Ranma's coming back," Usagi said, trying to look disinterested. She failed miserably. "And he's going to be in the Race? Oh, that's terrible."  
  
"Isn't it? Such a shame. Young lad like that, he's going to be pursued by quite a few." Thuyir watched the young warrior, briefly wondering about the odd hairstyle again. Maybe she took this rabbit thing too seriously.  
  
"When's it scheduled, a few months from now, right?" Usagi considered. An image of herself, sword bared against the Forces Of Evil, with Ranma throwing Fireballs beside her, brought a smile to her face.  
  
"No, actually it's in a week. It was moved up." Thuyir started polishing the countertop. One, two, three.  
  
"AAAHHH!" Usagi began going into panic. "A WEEK?! It'll take me three days just to get to Cross Isle! I gotta go!"  
  
As the paladin raced out of the tavern, activated her shakti, and flew off, there was a sigh of relief among many of the patrons. They could start cheating at cards again without having to endure Lectures Of Moral Responsibility.   
  
Thuyir just shrugged and noted aloud that if Usagi did *not* get Ranma, then she'd be back and would likely rededicate herself to the Cause with a greater fervor.  
  
This was followed by much praying that the Rabbit would get lucky.  
  
------------------  
  
"Are you sure about this, Saotome?" Soun was a bit nervous. He would have been more nervous if he hadn't been numb with shock. Not simply because that they appeared to be on the deck of a vaguely nautical ship which was flying through the air without visible means of locomotion into a rip in the sky. Not simply because that they were tampering with forces that he didn't understand. Not simply because they were talking about bringing his youngest daughter back to health when they'd had to go searching for parts which had gotten sliced off.   
  
No, he was also quite nervous that, despite Genma's assurances that it sounded like standard political doublespeak, there was some reason they might not be able to *return* once they had left. That was what Ranma was insisting.  
  
So, Kasumi and Nabiki were going because their sister could only be healed away from Nerima. Nodoka was going because she was *not* going to be seperated from her son again. Akane was going because she was still comatose. Genma was going because he saw the opportunity to unite the two houses and fulfill a pledge of honor.  
  
Wyndlace wasn't going because he was currently a red smear and nobody was offering to resurrect him. Nabiki looted the body after asking the nice silver-haired guy if he could check for cursed items and point out the ones she should avoid.  
  
Most of those watching nodded their heads at what was obviously an experienced adventurer.  
  
Soun was also torn. What Genma said was true, and accompanying Ranma greatly increased the chances of the Kasumi-Ranma marriage. And if the storm cleared, as Ranma admitted was possible, they would be able to return at that point. It would be at least a year though, possibly more. A quick trip to a neighbor's phone, and Soun arranged for the house to be rebuilt using some of that gold. The houses *must* be joined! No sacrifice was too great. Besides, they could return in a year and the house ought to be rebuilt by then.  
  
Nabiki saw this as an unparalleled opportunity. Sure, she'd have gone anyway just to see her sister restored to health. But the profit potentials in *half* of what Saotome could do gave her a thrill. And the gold! A year in Fantasyland sounded as if it could fund her college pursuits if not set her up in business by itself.  
  
Kasumi looked askance at Ranma, then back at the mess on the stretcher that was her youngest sister. For the first time, she saw clearly that not only did Ranma come from a strange and somewhat romantic background but a *dangerous* one. People could get sliced up rather quickly and alarmingly. Not to mention turned to stone. Still, Kasumi firmed her decision. She was reasonably sure after the past week that she could trust Ranma, and had come to the conclusion that she loved him. She was of samurai descent and would not back down.  
  
Midori was chatting nicely with a girl named Tiramisu and gleefully arguing the benefits of ranged weaponry. Midori rather favored up-close-and-personal, while conceding that against opponents with acid blood and the like this was rather less desirable. Tiramisu, on the other hand, was rather fond of starting off with her crossbow before drawing sword.  
  
The ship passed through the hole in the air and was abruptly in a deep grey mist.  
  
---------------  
  
"They're back, both ships." Pirici grinned wolflishly as she checked the crystals.  
  
"Excellent. Let them get a little further away from that portal before we strike," Bural's eyes narrowed in anticipation. "Have they detected us?"  
  
"No sign, there have been some tightbeam psi but no more than what you usually would get between an escort and a cargoship." Pirici licked her lips in anticipation. Their current communication and scanner equipment had all originally been salvaged off of Delphins ships and bases. The lack of the right crystals had kept them from directly duplicating the equipment, and getting ahold of more of the stuff would be quite a coup.  
  
Kle fingered a scar carved on her right forearm, the scar being a Feryl invention - a rune that when invoked would more than triple her strength and increase her pain threshold tenfold.   
  
"Dragon!" Pirici gasped. "Just for a moment, I got a signal. There's a dragon on board the cargoship!"  
  
"Have the soldiers ready quarrels dipped in dragonbane in addition to the usual poisons." Bural was unconcerned, dragons merely required more effort to kill but they died all the same.  
  
"Aye, captain," Kle said and relayed the orders.  
  
"Should we signal the others?" Pirici asked, hoping the answer would be no.  
  
"Don't joke, Scanner. Why share the glory?" Bural dismissed the question. "We'll only have a brief period between our attack and when the rest of the fleet realizes we're after a prize. We'll have to strike hard, fast, and cripple the ships immediately."  
  
There was agreement on that, though the topic of thought was divvying up spoils.  
  
----------------  
  
"WHO IS THAT?! WHERE AM I?! WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?!"  
  
Nabiki wiped tears away and confided that for someone a few moments ago looked like she'd fallen into a room of running chainsaws, Akane was surprisingly active.  
  
"Uhm, was the healer supposed to faint like that? Why did that baby appear? Why is everyone readying weapons?"  
  
The sly-looking elf snickered before bowing before Kasumi with a sweeping cape gesture. "Because, priestess, in the order you asked. No. We don't know. And there is going to be a major ship-to-ship battle occurring in the next few minutes. So if our honored guests would kindly get belowdecks..."  
  
"WAITAMINUTE!" Akane yelled. "First that guy with the spells, then everything goes dark, then..." Akane's voice slowed. "There was a bright light and I heard Mother's voice telling me to stay put and it wasn't my time yet."  
  
"Oh my," said Nabiki as she considered the implications of that.  
  
"The baby, near as I can determine from the magical auras, IS the young lady here." Stormshadow shrugged and spread his hands. "Your body perished but the soul lingered. The reason you're pale and shaking is because Frostbite here cast a Raise Dead on you. It *normally* might cause even someone like him to faint and isn't much easier on the formerly dead person. It does *not* normally cause the person being raised to split into two."  
  
"I'm not a priestess," said Kasumi, looking for some part of all this she could handle.  
  
"Maybe not, but you've got the feel of one," the elf said. "Now, as I said, we're gonna have a fight here soon, so if you'd get *below* deck?"  
  
"What are we facing, Stormy?" Ranma gestured for Bag to approach so he could rummage within its contents.  
  
"Feryl fleet. Looks like we'll be facing a breakoff group that's riding the edge of the dimension storm. The command ship is an unfamiliar design, looks like one of those goblin Triops but its been modified and is bigger than anything we faced in Realmspace. The two smaller ones are Viper-class. *We* have this Osprey and a privately owned Hammership."  
  
"Ouch," Ranma summed up.  
  
"On the plus side, Megumi's on the Hammership," the elven thief/mage informed the human with a smirk.  
  
"That *could* help," agreed Ranma, "but it won't be enough. I'll have to use the Recharge potion and sleep the effects off later. What about your spells?"  
  
Stormshadow snorted. "You know me, I specialize in covert operations. You want 'em all dead, give me a sharp knife and a few uninterrupted hours. Sneaking aboard them when they're on combat alert, now *that* is a bit much. As for spells, the most devastating one I've got ready is 'Chain Lightning' though I could possibly 'Teleport' over and get their comm tower."  
  
"And likely have a dozen bolts in you before you finished your thrust." Ranma shook his head. "Any espers besides Garr?"  
  
"There's a senpsi over there. Tough little girl. Telekinetic with a Psychomet secondary."  
  
"Too bad she's not a Psychoporter," noted Ranma.  
  
"Excuse me," interrupted Kasumi. "Who is attacking?"  
  
"Feryl, priestess. Bad Amazons. Nasty people who'd kill everyone on board in all sorts of painful and inventive ways. People you don't want to meet," the elf said with an uncharacteristic degree of soberness, "and who wouldn't think twice about making sausages out of your boyfriend."  
  
Kasumi noted that Ranma didn't protest the label and felt a warm flush.  
  
Ranma wondered what the elf was talking about as he quaffed the potion. "Bleah, why does this sort of thing have to taste like licorice?"  
  
"Here they come," Stormshadow noted. "Classic inverted V. The two Vipers to flank and sweep in from the side while the Triops forms the hammer."  
  
"Inside," ordered Nodoka to the girls, then a thought stopped her. "Where's Genma?"  
  
----------------------  
  
Genma smiled as he opened the door and found the gold *exactly* where he thought it would be. The captain's cabin had a side closet. In the closet was a chest. In the chest were two bags that made a satisfying clink.  
  
Stuffing the bags inside his gi, he told himself that anyone who left such sums of money around *deserved* to be relieved of such things. He was just doing them a favor by pointing out how lax their security was.  
  
And then he could have a talk with his children. The thought of Ranma turning into some scholar type was intolerable. And Midori had spent all of her time among these armed warrior women, tool-users for crying out loud!  
  
Oh, the shame!  
  
-----------------------  
  
Ranma stood near the bow, placed the fist of his right hand in the palm of his left and started gathering power.  
"Power beyond the darkest bands,  
From beyond time and space,  
Gather now in my unworthy hands."  
  
Little add on covers opened up along one side of the 'Little GTO' and the ship moved slightly so that it was that side facing one of the Vipers.  
  
"Steady," commanded Asuka Goraku of House Rising Sun. "Steady. All cannons, ready. FIRE!"  
  
As one, seven mage-cannon discharged the equivalent of twenty-four spell levels each. The equivelant of six fireballs struck the 'Hand Of Mercy' and caused minor structural damage. The seventh managed to make it down an open hatchway.  
  
Kasumi flinched as one of the attacking ships was wreathed in flame and lost a section of its hull.  
  
Nabiki nudged her and pointed at where Ranma seemed to be gathering little specks of light around him.  
  
Stormshadow lowered his bow momentarily and gaped. "He's casting THAT?!"  
  
"In a time of dreaded need,  
We're sorely pressed,  
Your intercession I plead."  
  
The approaching ships were firing long barbed metal javelins and flasks of dark material towards their ship. Amazons were countering with spells and Inertial Barriers and scores of their own arrows. Shampoo even grabbed up a horsebow when one of the Delphins on board the Wildhorse was struck down and added her own fire to the mix.  
  
"I pledge myself the evil to fight,  
Lest the cause be lost,  
Let now speak Heaven's might."  
  
"Grab hold of something. ANYTHING!" Stormshadow yelled over the gathering wind. "He's going to try and cast a 10th level spell!"  
  
Kasumi blinked, not realizing that a 10th level spell was about three levels beyond Ranma's ability to control. Not that much of anyone controlled a 10th level spell as they tended to cast themselves, usually burning out the wizard foolish enough to try and use them.  
  
Nodoka also didn't realize, this but judged by the glowing sphere gathering around her son that he was about to do something dangerous and possibly quite stupid. Which was, by odd coincidence, in her book at least, manly.  
  
"In service of the higher cause,  
If my life be forfeit,  
I grant it without pause."  
  
Ranma brought his hands forward with a wistful smile, seeing the Baseship beyond the Triops. This had been the only thing he could think of trying and it was only with the crystal spellbook floating in front of him that he even had a chance of casting this spell. Still, even if there was a backlash and everyone aboard the 'Wildhorse' died, it was better than being taken alive by the Feryl. He'd seen the results of a Delphins medical base overrun by the Feryl once. It still gave him nightmares on occasion.  
  
Ranma said a single word. His spellbook vanished. The deck in front of him crumbled and burned. The space in a single glowing line a foot thick and four hundred miles long burned, then exploded. A Feryl Triops with 80 magically enhanced warriors on the deck exploded. A 100 ton Baseship with over 2,000 seasoned troops came in half and abruptly became concerned with more immediate problems than two limping ships doing their best to flee the area.  
  
There was also a fair hole in the gathering dimension storm, but the bleedover energy ensured that when it closed the storm would be that much worse.  
  
-----------------------  
  
"IDIOT!" Stormshadow railed against the nearly comatose mage. "Even if that *was* a Baseship, what made you think you could pull that off?! DID you think?!"  
  
"I did it..." wheezed a white-haired Ranma.  
  
"We could have taken our chances diving into the storm. THAT would have been less dangerous than trying 'Ruth'. Do you have any idea what you've done!"  
  
"Saved us from..." Ranma fell asleep.  
  
Stormshadow frowned.  
  
"I'm not a mage, so explain to me what my son just did." Nodoka cradled the baby in her hands, little Aka-chan, and regarded the upset elf.  
  
"Look, a 10th level spell is *dangerous* and there are a group of 10th level spells so powerful and dangerous that they're illegal to even consider casting. Most people in Shadar, even those who study magic professionally, don't know they're anything more than myths." Stormshadow, someone who had faced the death of a god during the Godswar was upset, and even Thurin was looking at him with concern. "This is all under Imperial Edict, so it can't leave this room. Some of these are spells like 'Genesis' which are used to stabilize pocket realities or to convert a barren world into one that can support life. Some are spells like 'Exodus' which can tear an entire city out of one reality into another. And these are spells which are alive in their own way, actively seeking to wrest control from the caster and unleash themselves once started."  
  
"So, Ranma did something to save us all, but it could easily have destroyed us all instead." Nodoka considered what she had seen.  
  
Stormshadow chuckled weakly and allowed himself to lean against the wall. "Kind of. 'Ruth' is the codename for the Ultimate Disruption spell. I don't know why, those are the names the Emperor gave them when they were Sealed. Nor do I know how Ranma got one into his spellbook, and believe me when I say that he's going to get brainprobed on THAT. Figure it'll take him two days to recover from casting that spell. Another three days of questioning. Probably be released the morning of the Race?"  
  
----------------------------  
  
Kasumi stepped back towards the railing as the Amazons filed across the gangway from their own ship. Shampoo found herself shifting her stance slightly to a more loosely combat ready manner. Nabiki and Akane merely stared.  
  
BIG was the first impression now that these Amazons could be seen up close. The orientals were the shortest, standing just over six feet in height. The blonde ones towered over Akane by close to three feet of height.   
  
Shampoo noted the weapons first, as one would expect of an Amazon. Well maintained, a variety of weapons, all either sheathed or put away. No *immediate* violence, then. Shampoo relaxed marginally.  
  
Nabiki wanted to do a photo shoot. These girls would not have looked out of place as professional models. Every one of them could have made a fortune in that line of work.  
  
Akane thought that they probably weren't very good fighters, obviously vast amounts of cosmetic surgery, (those couldn't be real), but the number of sharp instruments they had could probably be very messy. Particularly as she still felt weak.  
  
"You are the fiancee?" a lithe-looking girl in vaguely samurai armor, with katana and wakisashi tucked in her obi, asked of Kasumi.  
  
"Uhm, yes," Kasumi sounded a little uncertain.  
  
Grins were exchanged.  
  
"Well, then, you're the one we need to petition."  
  
"Petition?" Nabiki stepped forward. "As in making some sort of formal request?"  
  
"Interesting," said one of the other Amazons, this one a blonde in articulated plate armor. "I would have expected humans to be... taller."  
  
"A hundred feet high, breathing flames, and making the world tremble in their passage?" A third Amazon snickered. "Too many creche-mates making stories, Tiramisu. Besides, both Ranma and the Emperor are human and neither one of them is that tall."  
  
"Perhaps," allowed the blonde before falling silent before the samurai's glare.  
  
"We have heard of your prior claim on the young mage," continued the samurai. "We wish to discuss terms and possibilities."  
  
Kasumi blinked. "Excuse me?"  
  
"You're trying to buy her rights to Ranma?" asked Nabiki, her business acumen coming to the fore.  
  
There was a moment of silence before the Amazons started chuckling at that.  
  
"Oh, Heavens no. We know you wouldn't do THAT! After all, you're following him into a strange and often dangerous world. No, we're negotiating for co-wife status." The samurai chuckled again, shaking her head at the idea.  
  
"Excuse me?" Kasumi repeated, now absolutely SURE that something was wrong with the translation spell.  
  
"Negotiations?" Nabiki wet her lips and thought of gold before the concept of what was being bartered for penetrated. "Excuse me?"  
  
Akane nodded. "I *knew* he was a pervert."  
  
"Who, Ranma?!" This met with another moment of silence followed by outright laughter from the Amazons.  
  
"Oh, Seal no," Tiramisu said when she could keep a straight face. "Both the Emperor and his mother ordered us to keep hands off until he was ready. If he's got a fiancee..."  
  
"Then he must be ready, yes?" The samurai nodded seriously.  
  
An eight foot tall barbarian girl (judging from the headband with a couple of dangling feathers, buckskin-style clothing, and warpaint) nudged Nabiki. "Poor boys been in relative isolation. No dating, no casual contacts, damn few friends."  
  
"You're a warrior," noted a tall girl with twin ponytails. She was looking at Shampoo.  
  
"Yes. I am Shampoo, Amazon of Nichieju Village." Shampoo was confident that as fellow Amazons she'd be accorded some respect.  
  
That two of them drew weapons was *not* expected.  
  
"Chien! Ru! Stop it. Does she LOOK like a Feryl?" The samurai drew her katana and got in between the two who had drawn weapons and their target.  
  
"Feral?" Kasumi hadn't realized that she had spoken until the Amazons turned their attention back to her. She still wasn't clear on what these enemies were. Couldn't they just discuss their differences over a cup of tea?  
  
"I suppose if you're to associate with us, some hopefully more than others, you need to know something of us. The Feryl are our... antithesis, if you will. When the Delphins first discovered travel between the worlds, we discovered some wonderful things," the samurai's eyes glittered.  
  
"Males," supplied Chien.  
  
"Decent opponents, good causes!" Ru grinned and slammed a fist into her palm.  
  
"The art and music of thousands of cultures," indicated an Amazon with short hair and dressed in what looked like denim overalls.  
  
"Fast ships, a good fight," sighed Ru, a tall redhaired Amazon in an odd armor that appeared to be shaped metal plates bolted onto buckskins. "Exploration and discovery."  
  
"Some of our number were aboard the hammership Lookfar, my namesake Megumi of Rising Sun was one," the samurai proclaimed with a trace of pride and something else. "The Lookfar encountered another culture of Amazons, likewise reaching out during this period of expansion. These were the Feryl.  
  
"We welcomed them as distant sisters. We had a base known as Spire in what's called Realmspace by the natives. Some of our number had found mates among the humans of that universe. They, the Amazons, and their children. It was a glorious time."  
  
Kasumi and Nabiki blinked at the moist eyes of more than one of the Amazons. Akane broke the mood, not understanding it. "What happened?"  
  
"The Feryl turned out to be from Aramar. They confounded our divinations in order to learn more of us, but they might have left us alone save for one thing." The shorthaired girl broke in, face drawn into a fierce look that was quickly shared. "They discovered the children. They could barely tolerate us treating males as being more than slaves. For us to be raising female children alongside male children, it was anathema. They launched their ships and used something called Hellfire Dust on what they considered an abomination. We called it a nursery."  
  
Megumi resumed the narrative. "The Grand Experiment ended. 'Hellfire Dust' is something left over from the days when an Elven Empire spread across Aramar. A poison so virulent that the land can't support life even now. All Amazons visit the Spire to remember, though no ships can land due to the presence of it even now."  
  
"I see," Kasumi said after a few moments. "They killed children. What of these Amazons now?"  
  
"If we find them, we kill them," said Tiramisu flatly, giving a distrusting look towards Shampoo. "We went to war. Both of us lost our homeworlds. They continued to use Forbidden Weapons that the elves had crafted to maintain their empire and sealed after their empire had died. We freed slaves, and put the worst of them out of their misery."  
  
"You killed slaves of enemy?" Shampoo frowned at that.  
  
Her reaction actually seemed to reassure the others slightly. "The Feryl believe in keeping males seperated and suitably tractable. Those kept for breeding don't need to be able to walk or see, for example. Those who are kept for labor were likewise 'trimmed' by their masters. Those who had spent several years of this..."  
  
The Amazons were further reassured by the near universal looks of disgust and nausea at that.  
  
Akane looked a little ill as what these (obvious beneficiaries of plastic surgery) Amazons were saying penetrated.  
  
"Enough," proclaimed Megumi, "this should be a joyous time. We need to plan for the Race."  
  
"'The Race'? What race?"  
  
"The race to determine who, what, and how many get Ranma, of course." Megumi winked. "We ought to plan strategy."  
  
-----------------------------  
  
Silvara noted that someone had gone into Thurin's cabin, stolen two bags of coins (copper and silver) and left. A quick check revealed that someone had searched the ship and then raided the pantry. The nymph engineer clucked at the mess that had been made, and wondered exactly *why* someone would do such a thing.  
  
Silvara started cleaning up and wondered which of the newcomers was responsible for this. If it had been one of the Amazons from the 'Little GTO' she would have expected them to at least be neat about it. And why take those two bags of coins without disabling the curse wards? It wasn't like the paper strip was intended to keep anyone out, it was mainly for supernatural beings. Frostbite, for example, would have gotten itchy and watery eyed from the way the magic of the ward twisted the local Flow.  
  
Silvara finished the job quickly and efficiently, as one might expect. At *her* age, she'd had enough practice at such things. Then she went on with her inspection- finally ending three hours later, at the Captain's cabin again.  
  
Thurin was just as puzzled by the thefts. Thieves were usually after more valuable targets than the contents of the larder and a "grand take" of 40 silver coins and 35 copper bits. And why would someone subject themselves to a curse of constipation for such a measly sum? Especially when one could have cut the ward or pulled it away without invoking it?  
  
"Anyway, Captain, they'll need to scrap the 'Wildhorse' when we get back."  
  
Thurin winced. "That bad?"  
  
"Keel's cracked near the prow, thirteen of the Feryl javelins will need to be cut out of the wood, there's three unexploded pots that *I* am not going to disturb without someone on this ship being able to cast a Remove Curse and Cure Disease handy. In addition, there's a section on the port side that got a near miss from one of their Annihilation spheres. It's been sufficiently weakened that by the time we set down, it'll probably collapse. Then there's the rest of the problems at the prow caused by that spell Ranma cast." Silvara shook her head, sending her chrome hair sliding. "Boy's always been overly concerned with using powerful magic."  
  
"Humans," agreed the dwarf. "Who can figure 'em? Well, I can get back to patrol when this is done, maybe. We've got another six hours before we make it to Aramar, we'll set down at the Silver Temple at Blacksands. Try to keep us together till then."  
  
"Blacksands? Fort Blacksand? Why there, that's fairly isolated." Silvara frowned in thought.  
  
"These folk are going to get hit with the Rules and all we can do is try to contain the damage. Already one of 'em will likely get hit with the rules for Thief, so we'll just work on minimizing the problems of the rest."  
  
------------------------------  
  
"Kasumi, you don't have to do this. We could just go home. You heard them, four more hours and we'll be stuck for a year at least." Akane pleaded with her big sister. No guy was worth this.  
  
Shampoo kept an ear open but was admiring the glittering sword she'd been handed. The bonbori, she'd been told, was fine but at least one visible holstered weapon was considered proper dress for an Amazon. She had no idea what the weapon was called, though it seemed to be a shortsword with an extended crosspiece such as might be used for catching or parrying another's blade. The blade itself was a slightly curved thin blade made of some form of steel that had light and dark patterns through it.  
  
It had been a gift from Megumi. Shampoo decided she liked the samurai Amazon. Then she caught sight of that silverhaired guy who had healed Akane. Again, as the last few times, the moment he saw that she had noticed, he ducked around a corner. All of which was beginning to make Shampoo nervous.  
  
"No, Akane." Kasumi addressed her sister, with a hint of exasperation. She was more than a little uncertain about the Amazons, but was sure that when it was explained that human customs were different, they would understand her position. "You can go home if you like. I'm staying with Ranma. There's currently nothing for me at home."  
  
"Then *I* am staying," announced Akane. "Someone's got to protect you."  
  
"I'll protect her," announced Megumi. "It's only right for a Healer priestess to have a warder."  
  
Akane and Kasumi blinked at the samurai.  
  
"But I'm not a priestess," protested Kasumi.  
  
"They're *all* weird," whispered Akane.  
  
-----------------------------  
  
Midori woke up as the figure on the bed moved. "Brother?"  
  
Ranma looked at the eight year old girl who had been keeping vigil. "I have a sister?"  
  
"Some of the Amazons wanted to keep you company, bro. And Mom wanted to let them. But Kasumi managed to convince Megumi and Megumi threatened to unleash some kinda Grand Cruzi Whatsit on them."  
  
Ranma winced. "With Megumi that would be 'Grand Cruciform Slash' and that was *probably* a bluff."  
  
"Some kinda special attack?" Midori was up for any secret techniques she could learn.  
  
"Well, actually, yes." Ranma groaned as he pulled himself up to a seated position. "I'm in deep trouble, aren't I."  
  
Midori nodded. "Ya got that right, bro. That little guy's talking like your head's up for removal."  
  
"He's a dwarf, they tend to be pessimists." Ranma winced as he took stock of his manna.   
  
The redhaired girl regarded her brother and figured him for a scholarly type. She'd have dismissed him as a real wuss if she hadn't seen that 'Roof' thingie. "Yeah, well, you still look like crap but I'll let Kasumi know you're okay. A couple of them Amazons have offered to spar with me, and I gotta go uphold the Saotome honor, y'know. Sure can't count on Pop for that."  
  
------------------  
  
Kasumi felt like some queen holding court. It was uncomfortable. Various Amazons wanted to see her, the confessed "First Fiancee" and wondered at the small, frail-seeming cleric.  
  
Who kept protesting that she wasn't a cleric but it was widely acknowledged that humans were odd in a lot of ways. And this from the ones who didn't believe the old stories about hundred foot tall creatures breathing flame and walking among the stars.  
  
"This is ridiculous," groaned Akane as another of the tall women-warriors ignored her and paid homage to her sister.  
  
"Now now, Akane, you musn't put them down for their cultural... differences. 'Obey the customs of the village you enter' (go ni itte wa go ni shitagae) as they say." Kasumi was flustered and embarassed but was slowly adapting.  
  
Everything stopped as if a switch had been thrown.  
  
"What did you say your name was?" A Southern Cross woman who had just a moment ago been wishing Kasumi a thousand years of health scowled as she regarded Akane.  
  
Akane looked around at the way hands seemed ready to go for weapons. "Errr. Akane. Akane Tendo."  
  
"STAND DOWN!" Megumi interrupted the drawing of weapons. "She is NOT Scarlet!"  
  
"She is an Analogue! You have seen the way she glares at us. The way she challenges us with her stance. At least that Shampoo girl has the grace to request formal sparring to determine her skill in relation to us."  
  
"Is she awake yet?" Kasumi was really hoping that the nice Chinese girl was doing well.  
  
"No, but don't worry. Frostbite will take care of Shampoo." There was some snickering and the tension level seemed to drop a notch.  
  
Akane was about to open her mouth when Megumi turned and hissed at her. "Do *not* say ANYTHING! Do not even make a threatening gesture."  
  
"But..."  
  
"How do we know that she won't walk the same path as her Mirror?"  
  
"Are you Feryl that go judging without good cause? Are you goblins to slay without warning? Or are you Amazons of your Houses, who will not find an innocent guilty of her reflection's crimes?" Megumi stood in the path of the hostility and waited for an answer.  
  
"The first innocent she kills, she will come under the Rules and walk THAT path," the blonde from Southern Cross continued, unimpressed.  
  
"Your kinfolk suffered, it is true," said Megumi softly. "Yet it is not the scope of the crime but the perpetrator that is the question."  
  
"Then I call for a trial, as is my right." The blonde declared and stalked out of the room. She was followed by many who glared daggers at Akane before they left.  
  
"What was all that about, Megumi-san?" Kasumi was well aware that violence had been barely avoided, though *she* had not been the target.  
  
"Old crimes that were never paid for," said Megumi sadly. "It would be suggested, Akane Tendo, that you refrain from challenging anyone until after your innocence is proven."  
  
"Crimes? Huh? What's the charge?" Akane glared at the samurai. She could take Kuno, and this was just another kendoist as far as she could tell.  
  
Megumi looked directly into Akane's eyes. "Of being a danger to everyone and everything you hold dear. Of being a figure of casual violence and easy hatred. Of being an Analogue of the legendary assassin Scarlet. I would suggest a low profile for now."  
  
---------------------  
  
Shampoo awoke, finding five hours had passed and catching sight of someone with silver hair fleeing her room. Again this was alarming, but the presence of one of the warriors reassured her somewhat.  
  
"Well, Shampoo, that was well done, though your defense needs some work. Still, we might well be able to get you some training on that." Tiramisu smiled at the lavender-haired girl in a reassuring manner.  
  
"That man," Shampoo said after a few moments getting her mouth to work again. "Why does that healer keep avoiding me?"  
  
Tiramisu studied Shampoo for a time before nodding at some silent decision. "We don't know. Near as we can tell, you resemble someone he used to know. He certainly acts like it."  
  
Shampoo shook her head and put the mystery of the healer away. Learning new techniques that she could eventually bring back to the village, that was a higher priority. Even higher than that was something else. "Can I get something to eat here?"  
  
----------------------  
  
"That's Aka-chan?!" Nodoka stared at the baby currently held in one Amazon's arms. She'd been amused to find the way the various warrior-women had clucked and cooed over a newborn.  
  
The various Amazons exchanged a look between them. "Well, yes..."  
  
"She's got to be a year old now!" Nodoka had been there when Frostbite had cast the healing spell and a second Akane had appeared beside the first. Stories of magical children appearing out of peaches and the like had prepared the Japanese for such things. But this...  
  
"You mean this isn't normal for children to grow this fast?" An Amazon in her mid-30s stared at the child briefly. "She glowed and seemed to expand slightly. This is unusual?"  
  
Nodoka considered. The child was unusually quiet and seemed to take to the goat's milk rather well. (Nodoka had tried to describe cows but eventually gave it up. She had a feeling that the "goat" they were referring to wasn't a goat, but it was close enough. It had also been somewhat of a shock to learn that none of them personally had ever seen a human baby. Children, yes, coming from something called a "creche" and several had seen elven babies before, but no human babies. Which had led her to finding out how few humans were where she was going.)  
  
Nodoka tried again. "She has her teeth already and the bones... I think she's closer to two years old in her development."  
  
The Amazons continued to examine the baby.  
  
"AH! She soiled her clothes!" One of the Amazons recoiled as an odor wafted out. "Is she *supposed* to do that?!"  
  
Nodoka sighed and began to instruct the warriors in the subject of Baby Care 101. That her audience was as rapt as it was did not go unnoticed.  
  
A courier came by six hours later to inform them that the Trial would start soon, only to find that Soun and Genma had offered to take the child out to get some fresh air and that various Amazons were out looking for the pair. With Midori. At Nodoka's assistance upon learning that turning one's back for a few moments wasn't always a good thing.  
  
As for Genma and Soun, they were worried about the girl being spoiled by all the attention.  
  
----------------------  
  
Ashida, also known as Jared, stopped himself on the edge of a parapet and spent a few moments taking in his surroundings.  
  
The flame-haired mage could have easily been mistaken for genasi, someone of human and efreeti blood. His clothes, consisting of a "Nuku Nuku" t-shirt, leather duster-style coat, tennis shoes and jeans proclaimed him offplanar. He idly took a lick from an enormous multi-colored lollipop and invoked an "Eyes Of The Eagle" spell.  
  
A fortification of some kind, a few hundred meters from a beach of black sand that was pierced by boulders of similar color. The fort itself was made of similarly shaded material, which proved to be basalt. A noonday sun that didn't look quite right hung overhead.  
  
There was also something wrong with the horizon.  
  
Two ships rested nearby. One, a badly wrecked ship that resembled a hawk, was the focus of activity by what looked like a lot of ape-like beings wearing coveralls and erecting scaffolding. The other he was somewhat more familiar with. A hammership from his brief sojourn among spelljamming was sitting in a cradle and was much less damaged than the other.  
  
Having determined that: a) there was no immediate danger, b) possible means of escape, and c) there was no trace of Serena, the mage was free to explore other options.   
  
The odd shimmer in the air briefly caught his attention, and he noted that the workers avoided that area. He frowned slightly as he noted the breeze blowing through the scrub on *that* side of the shimmer didn't reach the sands of this side. Again, no immediate danger so nothing to concern himself with at present.  
  
Lots of elves, a few dwarves, and some races that he didn't recognize at all in the crowds within the encampment. How curious.   
  
Ashida gasped slightly as he spotted familiar faces going into a tavern. Soun Tendo and Genma Saotome. And they'd just handed off a baby to a DROW?!  
  
Ashida stopped the impulse to charge down there and do something impulsive as he watched the scene. The drow was being bowed to, obviously respected, even by the winged elves. She'd nod in return but was quite obviously preoccupied with tickling the child under her chin.  
  
"Detect Evil," cast Ashida as he came within range. Uh oh. She had reacted as if stung and started looking around for the source. The spell's answer came back as a negative. A good drow? Ashida dropped out of line of sight as he pondered. There was something almost Kasumi-ish about that drow.  
  
A deep rumbling voice came from one of the leonine cat-people sitting on a wooden bench before a grill. A name caught Ashida's attention.  
  
"Excuse me, but did you say 'Ranma'?"   
  
The lion-man glanced over at Ashida with slightly unfocussed eyes. "Yeah. You know Lijra's apprentice? Or should I say adopted son?" He thumped his chest. "I served with lil' Ranma back in my days as a warrior when he was just entering the Imperial Mage Corps. Poor lil' fella. Must be tough to be 'human'."  
  
Ashida blinked. Ranma a mage? "Where is he?"  
  
The lion-man blinked and his eyes seemed to focus a little more. "Another of his old adventuring buddies? Grand Hall, I think. Yup, them were the days..."  
  
Ashida tuned out the lionman telling his dwarven companion about boarding a spelljamming castle without a guidance system, and trying to clean out the monsters that had come to lair in the ancient ship/base. Except that some ignoramus mage named Alcaeus had apparently let most of the experienced fighters close to melee with a guardian beast before letting loose with a Fireball.   
  
Ashida looked up at the large central building. Well, he knew where *he* should go now.  
  
-----------------------------  
  
The psionicist gathered the group together in the main hall, and the mood of the few Amazons present indicated Very Bad.  
  
"Okay, here's the scoop," began Garr, towered over by two of the Amazons. That they were also quite a distance from the group furthered the Very Bad image.  
  
That they were hovering that protectively around him caused Shampoo to scowl and check for exits. "I think this is not going to be happy news." Shampoo figured that she could grab Kasumi and exit the window before things turned ugly. THEN what, that was the question.  
  
"Sorry, I'm a bit weak right now. It was quite a strain to try to read the future and sort through the strands of fate. The Rules Of Magic, as Stormshadow's explained, act quickly on newcomers. Your feelings, your actions, self-image, how other perceive you, even your thoughts can alter how you get fit into the scheme of things." Garr rubbed his eyes, looking even more tired.  
  
One person there didn't receive the telepathic message that accompanied the pause.  
  
*All the information you'll hear is correct. In order to save lives it may be necessary to present it a bit harshly. I believe the phrase is 'scared straight' - please play along.*  
  
Akane wondered why Kasumi and Nabiki flinched at something.  
  
"The next few months are critical, after that point it is less likely that a single mistake will cause you to conform to a role you would normally find... distressing." Garr continued. "It is part of most sapient's natures that we carry the seeds of our own destruction within us. When the Rules adapt you, it all kind of hits the blast point."  
  
"Ranma," grumbled the dwarf, "was a child. Children get a bit more leeway, but he was still fitted into the Rules though most of it looked like coincidence. He apparently stated several times that he was training in the Art. Well, when most people speak of the Art they mean weaving magic. Other people's perceptions started him on the path to magery. Then he was adopted by Lijra who saw the boy's potential."  
  
"Most of you, I foresaw managing to accomplish the fates you intend. One of you could bring death and destruction to the rest unless her temper is stopped." Garr looked apologetic.  
  
Akane blinked. "What's everyone looking at *me* for."  
  
"You're the one clutching that hammer," pointed out Thurin, getting in between Garr and the young woman.  
  
"KASUMI gave me that hammer when that demon of Ranma's broke out!" Akane glared at Ranma, sure this was another attempt to do something perverted with her older sister.  
  
"It's going to be worse, Tendo-san," said Stormshadow as he materialized from a section of wall nobody had looked at too closely before. "We have records of such things. Your inner demons are going to come to the surface easier and faster without someone there to constantly watch over you. How will you protect your sister if you become a monster?"  
  
Akane screamed in rage and fear and got a good wind-up ready to smash the dwarf with said hammer. Then she could try grabbing Kasumi and escaping.  
  
The elf smiled charmingly at her, momentarily stopping her mid-blow. "Hi. You are a counterpart to one of our most legendary and hated villains, and our Diviners tell us that you have all of the flaws necessary toward going that same route as her. But since all those flaws radiate out of your stubbornness and hatred toward men, we've decided to give you an option: We could polymorph you into a lesser driad, where raging libido will tend to mute out the rest of your character traits until the end of your days.  
  
"OR we could slap you with a Geas of Obedience, where if you so much as disagree with the man we select as your master you will suffer absolutely crippling, excruciating pain that could drive you blind or slay you if you try too long to resist it.  
  
"OR we could just kill you right here, your choice."  
  
Nabiki gestured and Garr forged a group link again, excluding the Amazons and Akane.  
  
*You're bluffing,* Nabiki sent along the line. *You might fool Akane, but nobody else would buy it from you, Garr. The elf has a good poker face, but anyone looking at you would be able to tell that you have about as much intention of killing her as dating her. ie: none.*  
  
The Nymph sadly spoke to Akane over crossed arms. "The Amazons would prefer that we just kill you."  
  
Frostbite, still in his "elf" guise in the back of the room, sent a comment forward along the link. *I met Scarlet many years ago. Nobody deserves to go through what she did. Do you want to know what she looked like when she was younger? Your sister. I don't know how she died, but I suspect she died violently and without a friend in the world. If we have a chance to head that off, to stop her from travelling that path, shouldn't we do everything we can to do so?*  
  
"Oh, and if you try to *hit* me, or anyone else, with that hammer we'll do all three to you, then make certain that your ghost haunts some particularly barren stretch of beach. If you're lucky. If you're unlucky some necromancer will get ahold of your immortal soul and use it to power some device or other. If it's Hen, he has a sense of humor. He'd put you in as the driving force behind a magical dildo or something." The dwarf's eyes glittered without the least shred of humor. "So you just picture that as your fate and decide if you want to SWING that hammer."  
  
*Poor Akane, she just wants to protect me. We should just go home. We should never have come.* Kasumi sniffled, her heart breaking. Akane had stated that she would *not* leave Ranma and Kasumi together if she had any say in the matter. Now, in order to save Akane, Kasumi knew she'd have to turn her back on something else she wanted. Just like when she had dropped out of high school to take care of her younger sister and father.  
  
"What kind of choice is THAT?!" Akane glared at her tormentors, taking a step back and going into a ready stance.  
  
"More choice than another version of you, named Scarlet, had." The dwarf regarded her with a pitying look. "Lass, she went on to become a killer. The Amazons consider her as great a villain as Wyndlong was, and while others are uncertain of how much she actually did, the taint of evil and hate grew within her for over three hundred years before she finally vanished one day in the Goblin Reaches.  
  
"And look at you. Since the child version of you has appeared, even your sisters tell me your temper and lack of control have increased. What would *you* do with you?"  
  
"It's quite simple, child," Stormshadow smirked and leaned up against a section of air as if it had turned solid. "The Amazons want to KILL you. Quickly, efficiently, without any fuss or bother. At least that's what the Southern Cross House wants. House Valkyr wants to study you to see if your genes have any potential use, but their methods of extraction wouldn't be pleasant at all. Rising Sun has expressed an interest in trying to salvage you by turning you over to the Mu as a political trade, problem with THAT is they'd be trading you off to be part of the Hive - so your individuality would be gone."  
  
"BUT I'M NOT SCARLET!" Akane yelled, a little panicked. In a fair fight she was sure she could beat the elf and the dwarf. Problem was, she was pretty sure the elf didn't fight fair.  
  
Silvara, skin gleaming in the light, cocked her head and regarded Akane briefly. "I still think the driad idea is pretty cool. Not as free to travel as a wood nymph, but after a few centuries you'd probably get control of that 'raging hormone' thing." Obviously, as a nymph herself she didn't regard the possibility as being particularly horrible.  
  
Akane looked stricken at the thought of having back problems like that for all eternity. "So which of you is planning on this Geas Of Obedience? I'm NOT going to obey either of YOU!"  
  
"Hell no," swore Thurin. "I've already got a wife, thank you very much. Between her other husbands and myself, she's well taken care of. A second wife? The very idea is improper."  
  
"For a dwarf, that is," acknowledged Stormshadow. "As for myself, I *certainly* do not want to be saddled with a short, scrawny, tempramental girl for any length of time. I have more than enough to keep me busy as it is.  
  
"You seem to think that the options we've offered you are a punishment, Tendo-san. They are not. While I don't particularly like you, I admit that knowledge of your predecessor colors my thinking. YOU have not done much to be punished for."  
  
"Magic," said the nymph as if instructing a child, "is a force that flows through this world and permeates everything. Those who come here from outside find themselves fitted to this world, the Rules Of Magic will feedback your actions to your Being and fit you into your place here as a result. Changing you into a common driad isn't nearly as bad as what you could do yourself."  
  
"Take Ranma's father," growled Thurin. "He began thievery the moment he got here. Not Storm's sort either, but the pure greed stuff. The Rules are already fitting him into place as a Bandit - a thief who steals for no cause but their own. His martial arts skills will degrade, he'll probabably lose a hand if he hasn't already, and I expect he'll be hanged before the decade's out. The Rules affect EVERYONE. I'm a dwarf and a Marine and a warrior, and the Rules of each affect me. Storm's an elf, and a mage/thief, but he's an agent of his Imperial Majesty's Ninja and so that's different Rules entirely."  
  
*Actually,* sent Garr in a brief mindtouch, *he and Mister Tendo are still in the distillery trying to finish off their third cask of stout. All of the rest of you have taken suggestions and made efforts to fit in, which will help control the way the Rules pigeonhole you. Akane has been suspicious and distrustful from the start, and refuses to change with the situation. Hence the danger.*   
  
"You do like that earlier Akane Tendo did, and you'll go the same route and end up as either dead or an assassin who revels in killing. Except that if we let you go that way, the Amazons will hunt you down within a few days and you WON'T live."  
  
"How about if I just defeat...YOU!" Akane swung, ready to feint and move and run for the exit. Stormshadow blurred into motion, and Akane stared down at her chest, noting that the dagger had been buried between her breasts. "I..."  
  
The dagger dissolved.  
  
"Looks like the bit about people from the distant past being more susceptible to magic was correct," noted the elf. "That was the Geas, by the way. By attacking me, you set up the conditions by which it could affect you."  
  
"Now we need to find a male whom you'll be bound to obey," noted Silvara.  
  
"Excuse me?"  
  
Everyone turned to regard the flame haired man in the doorway.  
  
"Sorry about this," said the Pheonix Mage, looking a little nervous at all the odd grins. "I just dropped in to return this spellbook I got on loan. Am I interrupting anything?"  
  
*That's the one I saw in the vision. He can save her.*  
  
Stormshadow merely smiled and pointed. "Him."  
  
Akane could *feel* the magic taking hold, but the Pheonix Mage SAW it. "Hey! Wait a minute!" They both protested in chorus. The Mage stopped in suprise while Akane went on to shout. "That's not FAIR!"  
  
Stormshadow watched in amusement, lips quirked in appreciation for the thought it displayed, as the fiery-haired man wove two spells over Akane; a Know History and a Detect Harmony, while Akane went on shouting. "Don't I get any say in this!?"  
  
Before thinking in synchronisation with what she was saying could disturb him any more than it already did, the Mage held out a hand, silencing her. She obeyed more out of surprise at the instant feeling of compulsion than out of any natural impulse. He took a step forward, addressing the elf. "Look, a good joke, but hardly appropriate. I HATE her! It disturbs my calm to even see her alive! I am unsettled by how *powerfully* I want to dismember her! I am more than a little frightened by how strongly I want her dead. I have dreams at night about killing her, and the fact that I enjoy it so gives me cause for concern about the health of my soul. I can hold myself in check when I am in those realities where she has some redeeming qualities, but this one typifies all of the character traits I started hating her for in the first place!"  
  
The dwarf grinned openly and proudly, winking in such a manner that the Mage could see. "Sounds perfect to me."  
  
"Hey!" Akane screamed, then went down on the floor howling in pain.   
  
Silvara winced, seeing anyone in pain was painful to her. "The Amazons will be happy."  
  
Realizing the cause of Akane's agony, the mage withdrew his restraining hand which had been signaling silence. The body on the floor whimpered, and the mage shook his head, rubbing his brows. Sighing, he asked, "isn't there a way to change this over? She is EVIL! Not of the 'murder indiscriminately' sort... yet, but a branch from the same tree all the same. All that particularly foul garden requires is a certainty that whatever they do is right, and she has THAT in spades! I *like* killing evil! Couldn't you give her to someone with whom she'd be safer?"  
  
The dwarf eyed him up and down, gauging the mage's character as best he could. "No, I think we've got something here that will make all our parties happy. If you kill her, that's your business."  
  
Nabiki went rather pale at this pronouncement, and started subtly indicating she wanted the mindlink reforged. Kasumi clutched to Ranma, seeking support.  
  
The Pheonix Mage caught this last motion and shot a glance to Ranma. "Hi, bro."  
  
Nodoka unsteadily clutched her son's *other* side for support, opposite Kasumi.  
  
The Mage rubbed his eyes, waiting for his patient/captive to recover. "Explanation in brief; I am of the Saotome clan, just not any universe you are familiar with. By adoption, mostly, but that gets blurred more than a bit. The full story would take a soap opera to tell right, but the pertinent facts are that Genma enjoys selling me as much as he did you, Nodoka is firmly convinced that she is my birth mom, and has evidence and documents to prove it. Oh, and you and I don't know each other much because pops took you out on that training journey."  
  
There were many squegee blinks.  
  
Seeing an opportunity, and that his patient was recovering enough to listen in on the pertinent details, the Pheonix Mage spread his arms, emphasizing his dancing licks of flaming hair, pointed ears, and slightly non-human appearance. "I used to be human. From what I know of this place, many of *you* won't remain human for very long. Magic tends to change one, especially here. So watch your actions, what you do will literally determine who you are. For example..."  
  
The Pheonix Mage took a step toward Nabiki, raising a cautioning finger. "Now answer me not at all, do not even *hint* that you might agree or accept, but just imagine if I were to offer to pay you four times your own weight in gold if you were to sleep with me... once."  
  
She inhaled to gasp, and found his hand instantly over her mouth. "Do NOT answer me at all, this is hypothetical. But just imagine it were to happen, and you were to accept. The very act of publishing your willingness to sleep for money, no matter the amount, would affect you,   
harmonize with the Rules here, and you would be a prostitute."  
  
Thurin interrupted. "What's a 'prostitute'? The translation spell didn't handle that."  
  
"Uhm, a woman who sleeps with male customers for money." The Pheonix Mage blinked and tried to figure out what kind of world was so alien that a basic translation spell couldn't handle the job.  
  
"Tavern wench, maybe? They've been known to seduce male customers for bigger tips." The dwarf wondered at that. Maybe he should have gone outside the bars in that spelljammer port after all. He had thought it was completely bizarre when it had been explained to him at that time. Privately he thought it more likely she'd just turn into a Nymph.  
  
"Close enough, I suppose. A tavern wench then. Simply and irrevokably from what I understand. You would gradually change to fit that mold. They don't have any particular need for math skills beyond making change, so yours would degrade to a common level. You would dress the part without even being aware of it, and the whole rest of your life would fall in line   
with that profession, including diseases, eventual ugliness, and death a poor wretched creature. It is a miserable way to live and a worse way to die."  
  
The Nymph giggled at the ridiculous thought of a MALE paying to have sex instead of having to practically be dragged off. Diseases and eventual ugliness? Well, the only tavern wenches she'd heard of like THAT were the overly plump dwarven varieties. Humans must be really bizarre. "She'd die of starvation within a week."  
  
Stormshadow nodded, leaning casually against nothing. "Yah, the male to female ratio here for most races... And who'd want to buy what any number of Nymph, Dryads and others would give for free? Heck, there's any number of elves and Amazons willing to find partners. It's MALES that are in short supply."  
  
The Nymph nodded again. "She'd starve." Then she looked thoughtful. "Or more likely  
become another Nymph. We don't have THAT many humans showing up here, so we don't know what all their decisions really do."  
  
The Mage acknowledged their support and removed his hand from Nabiki's lips, cautioning all the travelers. "So you see how easy it would be to find yourself in something you don't want? Watch what you do, you might find it very hard to reverse a snap decision that wouldn't have very much effect in a mundane life. My advice would be to pick what you want to be and act accordingly." He shrugged. "But that's my advice in a normal world, too."  
  
"Son?" Nodoka whispered.  
  
The Mage met her eyes. "Yes, mother?"  
  
The woman blinked for a long time. "What ARE you?"  
  
The Mage glanced at the natives, all of whom shrugged. To THEM, the unusual was usual. Most assumed he had genasi or fire-nymph blood. He turned back and shrugged as well. "A good question. A healthy mix of elf, pheonix, and something else as far as race goes. Martial artist and spellcaster covers *most* of my profession but that's a long story. I'm not from this place   
but wherever I am I'm fairly unique. What I do is fight evil, and I'm flexible in my methods but picky in my targets. Right now I am on a world where the government of Japan has collapsed under the weight of an economy destroyed by demonic invasion. The master of these demons is out   
to conquer the world and I am acting to stop her. It's a dicy war and we may have to retreat, and if we do I'll have to figure out a way to destroy that world behind us so that our enemy can't use it as a base of operations and drain all the humans of their life energy to power an   
attack on another dimension. If they are to die I'd rather they do it cleanly than being turned into wasted husks whose vital lifeforce has been sucked out of them, which is what Beryl does when she is able."  
  
Eyes were round. The natives frowned but didn't look unfamiliar with the concept.  
  
"You'd kill a whole *world*?" Akane asked in fear from down by his feet, finally having uncurled from her fetal position.  
  
He squatted down beside her. "We are not here to talk about me. I am here to return a spellbook, with my thanks, and then you and I are going back to a world at war, one where the entire human race could be exterminated any day by creatures I am fighting. What I offer is a mercy stroke, and that is *IF* we cannot win any other way. What awaits them otherwise is a   
slow death by the worst sort of torture, first their energy drained, then essentially being eaten alive. The whole process takes about a year, I'm estimating. I would not condemn anyone, not even you, to that sort of death if I could offer them a better, cleaner one."  
  
He raised his head to look at the natives. "That is, I'm taking her if I can't convince them to change this to someone else?"  
  
The resident elf spread his fingers of one arm expressively. "Out of our hands. Once the Geas takes effect... not much I could do about it, except refer you to a specialist. But then you'd have to convince them it was worth their time to try."  
  
"And this works very well for us." The dwarf finished, then gave something of an apologetic nod to the flame haired mage. "Sorry for the inconvenience." It never did to have any powerful mages upset at you, he had some protection from his position, but avoiding their ire in the first place was still a good rule. Besides, he'd reassure the families later. If Garr said this path had the greatest chance of success, then that was how they'd play it.  
  
The Pheonix Mage sighed, standing up. "What would the effects be if I were to cast a Monster Summoning I?"  
  
Thurin turned to Stormshadow, who considered aloud. "Most likely goblins. We are near the Goblin Reaches right now."  
  
The Mage quirked a grin. "And would anyone here miss a few goblins, more or less?"  
  
The dwarf acquired a bushy grin. "We *prefer* less."  
  
"Alright, then." The flame haired youth concluded, then ushered people about until he had a little room with Akane at the center. Then he cast his spell, and addressed the girl while he was waiting for the results.   
  
"Akane, you will not consider attacking *me* except under three conditions. One," he held up a finger, "with generous warning under circumstances which would not complicate other critical issues. Two," he held up a second finger. "You must first declare your reasons, which must be well-considered, logical, and honorable. As well as giving me opportunity to reply and perhaps resolve your concerns. Three." He glared at her. "With the clear understanding in your mind that any such fight be to the death at my discretion, but not otherwise."  
  
A dozen green, warty, squat humanoids appeared. Nabiki took a long step toward standing behind Ranma. Kasumi huddled herself a little closer to him, while Nodoka gave herself some room to draw her katana if need arose. Shampoo noted the natives were unconcerned.   
  
Jared frowned slightly. The goblins were different from what he had expected. These looked like hairless ape-like creatures covered with thick overlapping scales and what looked like tumors of scar material. Well, at least they were as ugly as the goblins he was familiar with.  
  
The reason the natives were unconcerned was simple. Monsters this measely remained reliably under the control of the summoner for the duration of the spell, then returned to where the spell brought them from.  
  
The Mage was stepping back, away from his charge. "Akane, I give you leave to defend yourself. Goblins, that girl is your target. You may do to her what you will."  
  
The squat, ugly humanoids immediately licked the blades of their weapons, starting forward. One of the grunting creatures mentioned to his companions a comment that Ranma's ongoing translation spell caught and rendered as an obscene suggestion to his comrades. The others made chortling comments in the same vein, with additional and more grotesque   
connotations.  
  
Akane's face went flat. This was something primal, that she could deeply understand. These goblins were PERVERTS!!! With a cry of fury she picked her mallet back up and vented all of the fury, anger and frustration that had been building in this awful place on them.  
  
Seconds later she nearly dropped the weapon. Those... those goblins had SPLASHED!! Her mallet was dripping green goo and there were sticky spots where the dozen creatures had once been. The dwarf made an ugly comment about who got to clean up the hall. Nodoka looked a trifle pale and Ranma offered Kasumi a handkerchief to hold over her nose.  
  
Nabiki was thinking about losing her lunch out the window.  
  
Shampoo was a little green, yet thinking about how to kill the green things less messily next time, if she ever met any.  
  
The Mage was clapping. "Very good, Akane. That was a lesson for you in scale. You have the power to kill things, as you've just proved. Those were living, thinking, albeit perverted and ugly, creatures, and now they are all dead at your hand. I would like you to think on that."  
  
Akane reacted as if stung, the hammer clattering against the floor. "I didn't MEAN to..." Her anger began boiling. "YOU made me!!!"  
  
"Hush!" He ordered, raising a hand. "I arranged controlled circumstances with you against a small number of evil things. They were not required to attack you, but they were inclined to do so. You were inclined to defend yourself. They died. If you had changed your choice or they theirs that might not have happened. I'm not condemming you. Killing evil things is, to my mind, a good choice, so your soul as yet is unstained. But what might have happened if the first time you were offended around here it wasn't an evil man? You have the power to kill, you've proved that. You didn't *expect* to kill these things, yet you did. I would suggest that   
you learn some restraint lest you again kill something you didn't intend to."  
  
Akane's face looked blank. Stormshadow muttered a spell under his breath, wiggling his fingers about and canceling the Monster Summoning spell, causing the gooey remains to return back from whence the goblins came, thereby cleaning up the mess.  
  
The Mage took Akane by the hand, gestured farewell to the rest, and tossed a crystal disk over to Ranma. "I'm told that's a spell book of the Imperial Mage Corps in Shadar. I'm sure I can trust you to return it for me. Farewell to the rest of you. I know not if we'll ever meet again, but I'm not opposed to it. I wish you well, good luck and a safe journey."  
  
He began to lead a stunned Akane away, toward the point where he'd entered this world, reasoning that would be the easiest point of return. As the Mage walked, they heard him speaking. "Now Akane, there is already an Akane Tendo where we are going, and she is nicer than you (if a bit strange.) So I would like from now on for you to answer to the name of Scarlet, both for that reason and to retain in your rememberence that other one of you who bears that name, that you can remember what a murderess she is, and what you might become if ever you are callous or unfeeling toward others, or forsake the greater good. Secondly, do not delight in causing hurt. Even when we fight evil it must remain with us why we are doing so, and rejoicing in the shedding of blood is not it. Third, seek not to do evil, nor to encourage evil in others..."  
  
The mindlink snapped back on and Garr beamed reassurance. He had foreseen this and Akane's best chance of becoming something other than a tragic figure was with the outsider. Kasumi and Nabiki objected, but remembered the child and wondered how much of their sister was the baby and how much was the girl with their sister's face?  
  
The flamehaired mage broke off and stopped when he noted that Akane was crying. "Whatever is the matter?"  
  
She choked and sobbed something. The fact that she didn't immediately blurt it out served as a testament as to how badly the earlier shock from the Geas must have hurt.  
  
He sighed, speaking gently. "I grant you my permission to always be honest with me. There, is that better? You won't have to worry about the Geas hurting you if you say something that I disagree with. Now, can you tell me?"  
  
Scarlet sobbed, tears flowing. "You... you just want to kill me." She whimpered.  
  
He took her hand gently and sighed again. "Yes... but I'm not going to. You will be treated fairly, insofar as I have power. My hatred of you is not your problem, it is mine, and the responsibility for overcoming it is mine as well. I am not allowed to hate, I have to live by a higher law. I cannot permit myself to feel hatred for you, or anyone. The damage that   
it would do to me would be incalculable, and I simply do not want it. That is why it scares me so. Do you understand?"  
  
Scarlet nodded numbly, still sniffling and wiping tears.  
  
~Man! How *quickly* that Geas broke her! No, not broke. She's just got a spiritual glass jaw. Anything sufficiently jarring can get her to be meek and nice... for awhile. It's the fact that she always returns to hostile and dangerous that makes her the violent maniac she is.~  
  
"ARE you going to kill her?" Nabiki asked bluntly, folding her arms and figuring if family didn't count for something then what did? She wasn't entirely sure of how much she trusted the various people here, but it was obvious that Akane had become MUCH more unstable since the ship had entered that gray void.  
  
The Pheonix Mage regarded her. "I will not take her life out of personal reasons or spite. I will not seek her death or put her in excessively dangerous environs if I have a choice. But I live an exceptionally dangerous life and those dangers apply to all around me. Scarlet will prosper according to her obedience and willingness to learn, Nabiki. I take my responsibilities seriously. She will live or die by her own choices, not mine."  
  
"So she'll just be your slave, then." Nabiki frowned at everyone just going along with this. Kasumi looked like she was in shock. Or WAS that esper right and the major healing that Frostbite had done to Akane in that void had split her youngest sister in two. The innocence was Aka-chan, that baby. The Akane being led away, the pride and wound. And when the two rejoined, which would dominate?  
  
The former Akane nodded, still shedding tears as she wailed. "Now I'll never get to see my family again!!!!"  
  
The Mage glanced back to the watching crowd. "Well perhaps, but maybe not. That's not set in stone." His lips quirked into a wry grin. "And even if it were there are things we can do to stone to make it give up its grasp. But the place where we are going has counterparts for them as well as yourself. There you'll see why these people were so scared about you acting like the other Akane that arrived. Dimensional counterparts are quite similar, not the same, just similar. The similarity makes it VERY easy to behave as family. Even, for example, myself with this Ranma and Nodoka here, whom I'd never met before today. But if you find your sisters in that world are not a sufficient substitute, then we can work out together how you might visit or talk with your family here. Fair enough?"  
  
The flame haired man addressed Nabiki. "I don't keep slaves. A student, an apprentice, THAT is a possibility. Now, was there anything else?"  
  
Scarlet broke in, rubbing both eyes and wailing like a lost child. "YES! Let me Go!"  
  
The Pheonix Mage released her hand. "Okay."  
  
"NO!" She yelled, getting angry. "I want my FREEDOM back!! Let me GO!!!"  
  
He sucked in a lip, considering her thoughtfully. "Scarlet, answer me this question. Which do you want to be, good or evil?"  
  
The girl looked at him as if he were stupid. "Good, of course. I want people to look up to me."  
  
The Mage gestured expressively. "Fair enough. If you'd wanted to be evil I could've handed you off to someone of that stripe for them to train you, and doing battle with that side I would have treated you as one of them, killing you the same as they. But you want to be good, a noble goal, but a harder one."   
  
He led Scarlet back to the group, then bent and unwrapped a white cloth from around a pair of katana. Nodoka, on catching sight of them, gasped in awe of the quality of the pearl sheathed blades. He lifted one up and drew it in a single, smooth motion.  
  
His mother experienced instant katana envy.  
  
The young mage twirled the blade around casually, changed his grip on it, and thrust it boldly through his own chest.  
  
Kasumi screamed, this extra bit of casual violence shocking her. Shampoo considered fainting. Nabiki and Ranma were both startled by the action. Nodoka had an instant of wonder. The dwarf found he'd reflexivly drawn his axe and Stormshadow had abruptly vanished.  
  
The mage wiggled the blade around for a bit, the tip extending out for perhaps a foot beyond his shoulder blades, then he withdrew it, leaving no wound, not even a mark on his clothes. He extended the weapon to be examined, then explained. "I call these Unicorn Blades. No amount of magic can heal a wound caused by them, but they are completely unable to harm anyone who is good." He approached the eldest Tendo very meekly. "Kasumi, might I have permission to nick your thumb?"  
  
The girl stood stock still in fright, yet reluctantly extended her right hand.  
  
The Mage very carefully brought the blade ever so slightly up to touch her thumb, then Kasumi's face grew puzzled when nothing happened. He pressed the blade upward even more, until it was noticably within her flesh, but still nothing. Very soon the katana had been run through her entire hand, passed through thumb, arm, and neck and Kasumi was smiling in relieved wonder. Even plunged directly through her heart it had failed to so much as damage her clothes.  
  
Shampoo relaxed her hand where part of the table had inexplicably come off in it.  
  
The Mage then snicked out the katana in a lightning flash and a lock from one of Nabiki's bangs was floating, severed, to the floor. He sheathed the weapon. "I use these frequently when fighting evil. When you graduate I'll make you a set to carry. But until then, Scarlet, you are my student. When you can adequately prove to me that you know good from evil, that you consider your actions and that they are good, your heart is pure, and you can be a champion for the side you've claimed, which is the side of the light, then you will have your freedom with my blessing. Fair enough?"  
  
The girl's eyes were filled with wonder as this became less a bad thing and more an opportunity. Now it was a training journey. "YES!!!" She said excitedly.  
  
He nodded. "Very well then. Say your goodbyes and we'll be off."  
  
The Pheonix Mage headed off again toward the gate. He was a little surprised by the mass rush of people following him. "Um, where are you going?" Nodoka, among them, was staring at his katanas, the fingers of her hand grasping reflexively as she stared and her lips moved softly,   
speaking something too low to be heard.  
  
"We're coming with you."  
  
"Besides," said Garr with a shy grin, "how else are you going to get back to your world with all of your associates *without* major magical assistance?"  
  
"A fair point that," agreed the Pheonix Mage. "Lesson one, apprentice. You can't do *everything* well yourself, sometimes you've got to delegate."  
  
  
----------------------------  
  
(1) Skysaber's Choice is the result of something from that Spells R Us round robin i posted awhile back.  
THUMBNAIL VERSION: Basically a corruption of a transport routine sends a powerful mage/kensai into a Sailor Moon world, but one in which Sailor Venus is the only active Scout and is in the process of losing against Queen Beryl. "Skysaber's Choice" follows the adventures of the Mage as he tries to cope with the situation and the effects of his own mistakes (such as resurrecting Queen Serenity.) Oh, and there's a bumbling but well-intentioned cyborg in there too.   
Skysaber himself says about it: "It is not subject to general release at this time, only to select prereaders. It is a cycle in a much grander scope fic that has not yet had many of the previous cycles written. When those prequels are completed (presumably well after SC itself is finished) then general distribution will start. Frankly, I'm writing it to have fun. They may have it when I'm finished with it."  
  
  
  
  
Game Data:  
  
Delphins Amazon: (average, generic female)  
Environment: Any, Frequency: Uncommon, Organization: House, Activity Cycle: Any, Diet: Omnivore, Intelligence: Average to Genius (8 to 18), Treasure: by class, Alignment: Any (tend to good), Armor Class: 6 or better, Hit Dice (if used): 2+1, Average Level: 6, Average Class: Fighter, THAC0: average 15, #AT: 1 unless specialist, Damage/Attack: 1d6 or by weapon, Special Attacks: weapon specialization, possible psionics and spell use, Special Defenses: possible psionics and spell use, Magic Resistance: Standard, Size: M to L (6' to 8'), Morale: Elite (13-14)  
Delphins males are similar but are smaller and thinner (HD:1-1), tend not to be fighters, and are more likely to be trained in magic or psionics.  
  
Level limits (females, unmarried, married tend to be higher level by two due to the extra cooperation and assistance given them)  
Warrior: U, Paladin: 19, Ranger: 21, Mage (any except illusionist and enchanter): 14, Illusionist: 9, Enchanter: 18, Cleric (any except Silver): 15, Silver Temple Cleric: 21, Druid: 15, Thief: 17, Bard: 9, Engineer: 12, Psionicist: 16.  
frequent dual classing  
Level limits (males)  
Warrior: 9, Paladin: 12, Ranger: 9, Mage: U, Cleric: 21, Thief: 17, Bard: 21, Engineer:19, Psionicist:U  
  
=====================  
  
The Bet: A Different Art  
Crossover sequences and author inserts appear by permission, before anyone asks.  
Main characters by various authors who actually own them.   
The concept of the Sadie Hawkins Race is directly taken from "Lil' Abner", but no i was not planning on using Moonbeam McSwine or Granny Weatherwax.  
some scenes written by Skysaber and are part of the crossover with "Skysaber's Choice"  
  
Chapter 6: The Sadie Hawkins Race or,  
the pursuit of happiness, but whose happiness?  
  
"Why must I be an Amazon in love?" - popular song title among House Southern Cross  
  
-----------------  
  
The days preparing for the Race had been hectic.   
  
Ranma had spent most of that time being questioned regarding his use of the "Ruth" spell. So much so that he still had a bit of a headache. Favored by the Emperor or not, those spells were so illegal that even Ranma had to have his adopted mother speak in his behalf.  
  
Nodoka, unfortunately, tried to meet this elusive darkskinned sorceress but only learned about her presence after the other had teleported back to her own tower. The rest of her time had been spent with Aka-chan. She did, however, get a chance to meet herself. Contrary to what some might expect she got along famously with herself.  
  
The Pheonix Mage spent some time learning how to finetune a Worldgate and contacted the Nodoka Saotome of his homeworld. Who came and took all of fifteen minutes to find where his cousin Serena had wandered off to. *She* was being ruthlessly spoiled by a large gaggle of Southern Cross Amazons. Nodoka also met her counterpart from another world, and the two got along quite well, all things considered. He was also rather surprised to find that his mother had registered *him* in the Sadie Hawkins Race. Not *too* surprised considering her views on manliness, but surprised nonetheless.  
  
Kasumi spent some time discovering that she rather liked Megumi, and that the various Amazons could be quite nice if not dealing with legendary figures of villainy. She also proved to have considerable trouble dealing with the eternal noon that most parts of Aramar possessed.  
  
Aka-chan, over the period of the week, continued to grow but at a progressively slower rate. Estimates were that she'd "bottom out" at age eight after a year. Theories as to why were prolific, but the prevailing one was that when Frostbite cast a spell to make the body whole and then the "Raise Dead", that the presence of the dimension storm caused side effects. That Aka-chan was actually the younger Akane made manifest.  
  
Nabiki asked a few favors of people trying to get to know Kasumi and/or Ranma and managed to get both some operating capital and research done. Rather than face some of the potential fates awaiting her, Nabiki made an effort to alter her modus operandi. Besides, she thought the idea of spellcasting herself - altering the local reality by force of will and knowledge to be quite attractive.  
  
Soun and Genma plotted to get the Houses together, getting rather more drunk as they planned more and more grandiose schemes to do this. Somewhere during all this, both fathers had signed a number of legal documents that would later come back to haunt them. Genma later vanished, having heard of a great treasure that would make a warrior invincible. Decisions made four days into a drinking contest were not particularly wise.  
  
Shampoo spent several days getting to know the local Amazons. Unfortunately, during one of those periods she discovered that she had a low tolerance for alcohol and also found that hangovers were not very pleasant. Also that she now had a tattoo, was officially a member of House Rising Sun, and scheduled to go through Boot Camp at the end of the week.  
  
Scarlet discovered that there were benefits to this whole "apprentice-master" deal. Due to the Mage and the others she held responsible for her current predicament: three death-challenges had been called off, four attempts to beat her into the ground had become formal sparring matches where she had managed to learn special skills, three people who had started out wanting to kill or at least seriously maim her had become friends, two others had become rivals instead of outright enemies, and the dwarf had offered to give her "proper training" in that hammer. Most people were now treating her as a victim, and as she was learning, if something hadn't been done, they wouldn't have been nearly as kind. Now that she was not considered a Threat, people were being nice to her - imagine that!  
  
All in all, it was less chaotic than it could have been.  
  
----------------  
  
"Other humans?" Ranma looked speculatively at the two other somewhat nervous individuals at the starting line. "What happened, did Sjul try to summon one of Greylle's analogues again?" Sjul had been rescued along with Lijra and Urge by Greylle from Mezonobarren on the world of Toril over two hundred years previously. Now that Sjul wasn't a little elf girl anymore, she wanted to thank her rescuer more properly. The problem was that Greylle had been dead for one-hundred fifty of those years. Hence she sought the Greylle that had been born in *another* world.  
  
A problem with *that* was that she'd grab things that were kind of like what she was after, but that her aim was pretty bad.  
  
The first one looked up. "Hey. So you got roped into this too?"  
  
The second one frowned. "I thought we had some others showing up as well. If it's just us three..."  
  
"I've been pretty busy, what's the course like this year?" Ranma knew that previous Races had been airship "Hare & Hounds" or a wild run through the city or even a small sailboat pursued by damn near everything that could float. He just hadn't expected to be participating himself this year.  
  
"Geez. You're unprepared?!" The first one shook his head and crossed his fingers unobtrusively. "I found an elf girl I thought I could tolerate, and we worked out a plan a WEEK ago."  
  
"Sky elf?" Ranma raised an eyebrow. The winged ones tended to move quickly.  
  
The second one cleared his throat. "Race starts here in town. Standard rules, the guys get a half hour headstart, you can't hide IN town but you can hide elsewhere. There's even more participants than usual this year, from what I hear."  
  
"Well, with two more humans, *and* Garr, that's probably it." Ranma shrugged. The Emperor had officially sanctioned these events for just such situations and to cut down on the friction between various wanna-guy groups.  
  
"Oh, I didn't introduce myself, I'm..."  
  
Ranma had held up a hand. "Unless you're protected, like I am, you *do* know not to use your truename, right?"  
  
The first one scowled a little, taking a yoyo out of a trenchcoat pocket and fiddling with it. "Course we knew that. We've both been here for about two weeks now. I'm Keian and he's Jim."  
  
Jim nodded and went back to stretching.  
  
"Ranma Saotome," said Ranma, wondering why the two suddenly collapsed and stared.  
  
"Damn, is Ukyo here? Shampoo? Don't tell me Akane's here." Both were talking at the same time and staring out over the crowd.  
  
Ranma blinked. "Who? Yes. And that depends on which Akane you mean."  
  
Ranma found himself being stared at briefly before the two started in on a conversation he could barely follow. It seemed to have to do with timelines, alternatives, and how "he doesn't seem *nearly* the jerk" of something called the "cannon."  
  
Stormshadow appeared and took a place near one end of the line, looking unconcerned. As he should, this was his ninth Race and most present knew better than to target the mage-ninja.  
  
Garr took HIS place (among catcalls, shouted comments, and cheering) along the line. He looked nervous, which did not bode well for someone whose stock-in-trade was precognition and telepathy.  
  
Two others, an elf (who didn't *have* to participate- therefore he had probably lost a bet or otherwise done something to attract the attention of the powers that be) and...  
  
"Mister Tendo?! What are you doing here?" Ranma noted that Keian and Jim had just facefaulted. Hmmm. He might have to talk to them after the Race. Providing that all of them were capable of meeting after the race. There were at least two transformed dragons in the pack of female participants and some stronger auras he couldn't place without more study.  
  
"Just making sure that my little girl doesn't get cheated and the two Houses are joined!" Soun was still wearing his brown gi and sandals, which wasn't the most intelligent choice of garb for the day.  
  
Ranma batted away a passing bug and wondered if the Tendo patriarch had any idea what he was getting into. "Which one? Kasumi, Nabiki, or Aka-chan? Nabiki's been acting interested in Garr, y'know."  
  
"Yes, I had noticed..." Soun began, thoroughly distracted by the possibility of getting TWO daughters married!  
  
"BEGIN!" The starter used her Thunderclap spell and the Race was on, at least for the males who had a half-hour's lead before the women were given their signal.  
  
Stormshadow, to no one's surprise, leapt into the shadow of a tree and vanished.  
  
Ranma made a gesture, summoning magic to himself.  
"Confound the ear and eye,  
To my presence by and by.  
A cloak of light and sound,  
That I not be found.  
Improved Invisibility."  
  
As two of their number were now apparently invisible, the remainder groaned and began running. Except for two.  
  
"Though I don't think I approve of any other suitors in either case," continued Soun. "Still, if she can do it, I have no doubt that my darling Nabiki could convince the boy that it IS in his best interest. Hmmmm..."  
  
The fiery-haired one turned confidently to face the patiently waiting crowd, all the time shouting over his shoulder. "Don't worry, boys. I'll hold them off! Get away now, while you can."  
  
~Hold them off?~ The audience was thinking. ~This wasn't a BATTLE!~  
  
But the Mage turned to face the several thousand female participants, striking a pose, using his arms to shape lines of force, building up to a spell. Many of the competitors became nervous. He knew the rules, right? It wouldn't be like that one guy, seventeen Races ago that had looked over the crowd with their nets, bolas, capture arrows, and had then started throwing FIREBALLS into the amassed crowds.  
  
There was an odd feeling of deja vu as a large number of people remembered the warrior male attacking the crowd *with a live blade* after his wand of fireballs had "softened them up." It had taken YEARS for the memory of that to fade in the background, and the name of Sean of Gallahar was still soundly cursed by many.  
  
Many clutched weapons of subdual and wondered what they would do if he actually attacked, a few got counterspells intended to defeat escape attempts handy in case he really DID do something. More prepared defensive spells, gathered the energy for teleports, or activated protective functions on various magical items.  
  
The Mage spun in place, gathering an energy sphere, which he brought above him, releasing it with anticlimactic gentleness and a soft puff. Little streamers and sparkles formed from the puffball and went cascading upward, constructing a huge illusion well over a hundred feet high.  
  
A huge image of a stage which contained a fifty foot replica of the mage.  
  
He'd done his homework, too. This was not how he usually dressed, but was more flattering. He'd expended several hundred Know Customs spells on the locals and on the males they found especially attractive, then used his Art of Disguise martial art stealth power to adopt the best of those mannerisms exactly for this programmed illusion.  
  
Hair: immaculate, except for those scenes when a somewhat tussled look would be more attractive. Teeth, skin, nails: a good sheen of health, clean, and perfect (except, again, when an artfully applied smudge would look endearing, and only when it was needed.) Eyes: dancing, alive and exciting.  
  
Good makeup and presentation could make a homely person attractive, and a plain one gorgeous. He was starting with a good head start. The illusion brought its head up in a wildly extravagant gesture of indicate imminent availability and used in the past by many performers carving out roles in the 'sexy' department.  
  
The illusion lit up with an appropriate background for the mood and raced unaccompanied into a song.  
  
"Super Trouper, beams are gonna blind me   
but I won't feel blue  
like I always do  
because somewhere in the crowd there's you!"  
  
Cue music, a racing pulse beat. Tones were plucking out a simple harmony that was upbeat and lovely.  
  
"I was sick and tired of everything  
when you called me last night from your home  
All I do is fight and sleep and sing  
But you're lounging there, why so poor, alone?"  
  
The Mage grinned. These Amazons didn't have a chance! Normal females were almost enthralled by a good, romantic melody. These were *ALL* guy-starved and men weren't naturally inclined as much to singing the mushy music that women so adored, creating a need. Add to that they didn't have any movies or mass entertainment, and this becomes a fascinating, new thing. Doubly attractive.  
  
And, in his lifetime as a Robotech pilot, he'd helped program Sharon Apple.  
  
If any of them could pull themselves away from watching, this would be a race. Frankly, the mage doubted it. Well, the high level ones most likely could, but the vast majority of the girls present were young Amazons recently graduated from Warrior Camp, training at their temples, or having had their noses buried in study for long years. He took off running. Then ran back, grabbed Soun (still muttering about the possibilities of uniting the two houses), flung him over an arm, and once again took off running.  
  
Behind him the fifty foot replica of him went on singing in an illusion that grew in scope and complexity as it went on, hinting at waterfalls and deep forests, bringing in each attractive element in a sequence that built up to be devastating.  
  
"So imagine I was glad to hear you're coming. Suddenly I feel alright.  
And its gonna be so different when I'm on the stage tonight!"  
  
Spotlight beams appeared and danced invitingly over the rest of the illusion.  
  
While the young Amazons stared at the illusion, older eyes swept over the construct of magic, noting ways to defeat some of the enchantments on it. Appreciation for complexity of the thing turned more than one set of those eyes thoughtful.  
  
"Tonight the Super Trouper lights are gonna find me  
Shining like the sun!  
Smiling, having fun!  
Feeling like a number one!  
  
"Tonight the Super Trouper beams are gonna blind me  
But I won't feel blue  
like I always do  
'Cause somewhere in the crowd there's you!"  
  
A finger danced out, striking certain females in the audience who experienced near heart-attacks even though they'd been warned. The illusion began to dance attractively in a manner designed to be pleasing to a female's eye, adapted for local customs. Added to this the fact that it was very good and it became downright provocative.  
  
The illusion was tied in to an Empathy spell, and so it would read the emotions of its audience and act accordingly, working them like a consummate live performer... or Sharon Apple. He'd had to maintain a link with his illusion self to provide the skill and keep an eye on its   
behavior, but the towering illusion was sending out such strong magical radiance that it would hide a host of minor spells and serve as incredible havoc on divination magic.  
  
If anybody wanted to cast anything of the 'seek and find' variety, they'd have to cancel the big show. Would they be able to bring themselves to do it? He was counting on NOT!  
  
The mage knew full well of the crystalline array that projected images onto the large white sheet stretched out about the plaza. It would follow various groups of huntresses, switching between them at the urging of a clairvoyant, as they followed the progress of the Race. With some of the betting going on, he'd have been surprised if they had NOT done so. His obfuscation spells wouldn't interfere with THOSE, otherwise it wouldn't have mattered how fascinating he'd made the contruct.  
  
"Hosting twenty thousand of your friends  
how can anyone be so lonely?  
Hot on a success that never ends  
still I'm thinking about you only.  
  
"There are moments when I think I'm going crazy, but its gonna be alright  
Everything will be so different when I'm on the stage tonight!"  
  
Coming out of the town to a pool of grey muck, he threw Soun in and coated the latter with a heavy layer. The martial artist was still too preoccupied to notice, having finally put together the concept of a "Jared Saotome" and multiple Ranmas together. (The thought of merging the two houses with *all three daughters* was overwhelming. But what about Aka-chan? Or some of these other Kasumis and Nabikis he was hearing about?) A quick Fabricate later and there was a small Greek temple on the bank of a stream nearby, complete with pillars and statuary.  
  
One of the statues, sculpted muscles and all, was Soun, whose 'Thinker' pose hid the fact that he was still mumbling to himself. But the not-so-far distant music covered that just fine.  
  
He ran off to intercept some of the other guys and see if they needed any help.  
  
--------------  
  
Keian ran outside of town, finally ducking behind an ancient roadside shrine (for travellers) and grabbing the backpack that Cloudrunner had left him. He hadn't lied, completely at least, to Ranma.  
  
He changed clothes quickly, thanking his own deity that he'd found someone who had agreed with his basic viewpoint that quickly. He wasn't *ready* for this sort of thing, not after Michele, or Julie, or Stacey, or even Shelley. No, he wasn't about to go through some relationship now, especially with all the talk about Rules Of Magic and such a bizarre world that he could spend years just exploring his options.  
  
The costume came on easily enough. Typical workclothes for an elf of non-noble heritage, non warrior qualification. Translation: peasant garb. Made of a material called "coton" which seemed to mix characteristics of cotton and silk. Cloudrunner had guessed his sizes and managed a fair job, it seemed.  
  
The blue pants were drawstring tightened, patched knees, and looked as if the previous owner had been in a fight. At least that was how Keian interpreted the burned line along the outer thigh. The peasant shirt was serviceable, almost new, of a deep green with golden embroidery around the seams. A vest and belt of some dark reddish leather completed the outfit. The boots were a trifle big, but serviceable.  
  
The hooded cloak was clearly of elven make, the stitched leaf designs and dark on light green color clearly speaking its origins even with his lack of familiarity. The hint of rain would ensure that nobody thought odd about him keeping the hood up. He was a bit more solidly built than the average elf, but thought it might not look *too* offbeat.  
  
A potion supplied by Cloudrunner removed his facial hair as soon as he rubbed it on. The burning sensation on his hands and the areas it was applied to was endured stoically. Elves, he had been told, did not possess body hair. Fortunately, he didn't have to apply it to the areas covered by the clothing. He used the applicator for the other potion, turning his hair a metallic bronze and causing it to lengthen nearly a foot.   
  
His old clothes went into the backpack, which he shrugged on. To his side he belted the sword, the dagger went into a bracer-sheath. A walking stick completed the image of a wandering elf peasant, out to see the world.  
  
Reorienting himself, he headed around the city. The viewing crystals wouldn't start up for another ten minutes when the women got *their* starting signal. And by then, he should have been able to find and entrench himself at the appropriate tavern.  
  
Hiding in plain sight, well, it had been done before but not often.  
  
------------------------------  
  
Jim ran. Not that he was afraid of women. Not that he was afraid of multiple women as sexual partners. Not that he was opposed to some of the Amazon customs regarding sharing rare and valuable resources (they counted men as one of these things, which would have horrified any number of late 20th Century American women with the thought of males having any value at all.)  
  
Nor was the large number of non-Amazons a great concern. He had been here over two weeks now, and had met and spoken with some of the not-that-near humans and found plenty of common ground. Though the kirrfolk tended to have an attention span measured in moments.   
  
So, the problem was to get to where he'd hidden a small boat, then could speed down the river to the cove. The cove was something he'd heard of, and the driads there would not turn him in. Then all he had to do was leave the grove, and as these were driads and not wood nymphs, he would have escaped *their* embrace.  
  
The trick was to get caught by the group you *wanted* to be caught by. While he appreciated the Lil' Abner reference, (and noted a resemblance to certain members of the Lil' Abner cast among some of the Amazons), he had no intention of the one pursuing him NOW to catch him.  
  
That worthy was cute, in a Junoesque sort of way. Though she was also unusually pale and likely had a frost giant in her immediate ancestry. Eleven feet in height was a bit much! He liked long legs as much as the next guy, but still...  
  
Hmmm. Now if that dark elf had been this close to catching him...  
  
0-----------------------------  
  
Jared skated around the corner, taking him more than halfway up the ravine wall with a long trail of dust in a V line leading to where he presently was.  
  
A relatively small price to be going at 128 miles per hour.  
  
At first his plan had seemed flawless, then a couple of enterprising Nymphs and man-starved druidesses had used Speak with Plants and Speak with Animals to hunt down witnesses of where'd he'd went. In spite of all his care hiding his trail, he'd never bothered to ask the plants to *not* tell anyone where he'd gone. Plus, the druidesses could be awfully sweet and wheedling, it'd never have worked. They'd chased down enough of his hiding places that they'd actually *found* him.  
  
So, his perfect plan shot to ruins, he'd been chased out of his foxhole and had to stop being a fox in order to gain the edge in speed.   
  
He leaped up briefly in the air, spinning, and cast his Body Outside Body spell, creating five exact duplicates of him. They all began running in separate directions.  
  
A moment later the purpose of all this caution was realized when over a hundred women raged around the corner, running, flying, riding, being carried by spells or magic carpets and all having one thing in mind... marrying HIM.  
  
Meanwhile he was flowing downstream, having Shapechanged into a Genie of Water, then used those abilities to turn into water himself and insert himself into a convenient brook. There was also an illusion of him running along his former path and to throw off the tree-talkers he'd done all this while invisible.  
  
So far it wasn't working.  
  
Whatever he did, there were at least three *bands* of female pursuers who knew how to utterly foil it. Maybe he could have deceived any one of them, but they were all working together in surprisingly organized groups considering all this was being made up on the fly.  
Perhaps he'd been better off not tempting them so severely at the starting line. He'd become the target of choice for the day and, if all those who'd cooperated caught him and shared, he'd have several hundred wives.  
  
He had endurance, just not that much.  
  
One of the big foils being used against him was the True Seeing spells being cast by numbers of his pursuers. While in his present form he was so realistically liquid he could be used to wash a woman's clothes, or heated and used to fill her bath... even if hit with a lucky   
Dispel he was *still* disguised by Shapchange, all of that mattered very little because True Seeing displayed what he really was, regardless of layered disguises, revealed his illusions, etc., etc.  
  
Just as bad were the hakima. "Truthseers" who could penetrate disguises with a glance. And then there were the dragons, capable of shapechanging into human form, but using their more powerful magic and special senses to track his location by means he wasn't quite sure of.  
  
Well, at least he was drawing off the lion's share of pursuers, so he was accomplishing *one* of his objectives.  
  
So he had to quick find some way of changing what he actually was until they couldn't recognize him. Hmmm....  
  
Well, it wasn't what he would've *picked* to use that stash for. But he thought he had enough.  
  
--------------------  
  
There were nine major gods (or powers or philosophical paths with avatars, the terminology depending on who you talked to) in Aramar. (There were also a host of lesser ones that were OF Aramar and generally dealing with lesser concepts such as Arinne - patron of cheesemakers.) Borune represented creativity and the concept of what some would term Lawful Good. Etragar, the patron of healing, was more concerned with the greatest good than law or personal freedom. What some called Neutral Good. Most of these beings managed some degree of dignity in their various incarnations.  
  
And then there was Toltiir, god of mischief. Who had, in previous times, been known as Coyote, Jack Of Twilight, Cheshire, Puck, Robin Goodfellow, and a thousand other names. Dignity had *never* mattered as much as if it were funny. He (sometimes she because the entire concept of a physical existence was alien to the Elder's origins) was mischief and chaos and well-meaning humor, even if the hardly-omniscient being sometimes overplayed his hand. Or paw as he also took the form of a black cat frequently.  
  
So, upon discovering that someone *else* was playing a grand and elaborate joke during the Amazon Race, well - he was intrigued to say the least.  
  
A vaguely Greek style temple wasn't that uncommon. The Amazons of House Valkyr often used that motif themselves. A vaguely Greek style temple-restaurant was rather more unique. The only ones other than this in a similar vein were the coffeehouses dedicated to Juan Valdez, patron of coffee. (Another case where Toltiir had meddled, but meddling was in his nature as much as breathing was to humans. Well, most humans.)   
  
A vaguely Greek-Japanese styled temple-restaurant specializing in okonomiyaki, whose holy books included a menu, with a statue of "the goddess of cute and okonomiyaki Ukyo Kuonji" *was* pretty unique to his point of view. In fact, though he didn't remember a LOT of his life, Toltiir was relatively sure he hadn't seen this in over 250,000,000,000 years. At least.  
  
  
Toltiir was delighted and immediately planned on how to best accomplish a "one up" on this event. Something completely NEW, well, that was rare. And, as it was a joke, it deserved his undivided attention. The level of jokes and ironies piled on, well.  
  
That sitting there IN the temple, paralyzed by his disguise as a statue, surrounded by husband-hungry Amazons and Nymphs, was one of the males desperately being sought - well..  
  
Toltiir absentmindedly created a pair of large cartoon hands in midair to applaud.  
  
Senses took in the clever plan from all angles, penetrating the various cloaks and misdirections with a degree of subtlety that many would not expect from someone nicknamed the Jester. After all, nobody took him seriously. Which, of course, was exactly how he liked it. If someone took him seriously, they would have missed the point.  
  
Then, shifting from amorphous plaid mist to little black kitty cat, Toltiir considered how best to deal with this. A good natured joke that served a greater purpose, this should be repaid in kind, should it not? The temple-restaurant was serving as a refuge for many of those women chasing those few available men. Toltiir, without thinking about it, strengthened and made more subtle the Lure spell drawing a certain sort of hunter to this place. Oh yes, and actually causing the "oracle sauce" to be accurate.  
  
A smile crossed his feline face. What if... oh yes. His senses ranged afield as he backtracked the path the hero had come from, and then he disappeared from one continuua to another as he followed his probe.  
  
"Peorth, I have a job for you."  
  
The goddess leapt into the air, going from "I'm so bored, I wish something would happen" to "OH NO, not HIM" in less than a second. "I... I... I..."  
  
"I'm already accessing Yggdrasil," the cat informed the girl, "and it looks like kami-sama isn't forbidding it, so you know what that means."  
  
"Non, non, not again," the goddess Peorth groaned and slumped forward. "This timeline is in enough turmoil and danger, little cat."  
  
"Exactly," Toltiir said with a nod. "So here's a joke to play that serves a higher purpose, and see, Kami-sama approves!"  
  
Peorth glanced at the appropriate monitor and noted that the Allfather had indeed given a tentative go-ahead to the project. Peorth groaned again because she remembered the rumor that the multiverse had been originally created to give Toltiir someone ELSE to bother. (Denied as heretical, untrue, and just useless pondering. Which was common for gossip whatever the source.)  
  
Peorth listened to the plan and considered the timeline to alter. Well, as bad as things were, it couldn't make it much worse. She hoped. In fact there was a fair chance that things would improve. Peorth smiled at that. Toltiir violated rules willy-nilly, but his dislike for bleak, dark, timelines was well known.  
  
Toltiir smiled as Peorth went about her duties. Good, nearly perfect, in fact. But he had one final idea he wanted to try out. It seemed a darn shame that the Mage and his fiancees were seperated by the gulf of time and space, especially when there was a Sadie Hawkins Race to run.  
  
And if the data about the dangers of what *could* happen to the Mage unless certain interested parties were to rescue him appeared on that Mercury Computer... why that would just be too perfect wouldn't it?  
  
Grey? Still in the cyborg schtick? Hmmm. He might have to remember this plane. He wasn't too fond of the dark atmosphere, but that was just more of an excuse to lighten things up wasn't it?  
  
--------------------  
  
"Tonight the Super Trouper lights are gonna find me  
Shining like the sun!  
Smiling, having fun!  
Feeling like a number one!  
  
"Tonight the Super Trouper beams are gonna blind me  
But I won't feel blue  
like I always do  
'Cause somewhere in the crowd there's you!"  
  
The image spun and began to stalk its own audience with a feline passion.  
  
"So I would live, and you were right  
the sight of you would prove to me I'm still alive  
And when you take me in your arms, and hold me tight  
I know it's gonna mean so much tonight!"  
  
It sung repeats of various lines as it concluded the first song, dancing with passion and grace. But no sooner did the music wind down and the illusion take a bow that it was up, changed in costume, gentler, more demure and singing into a prop microphone its second song.  
  
Soft bell tones led the way.  
  
"The night we met I knew I needed you so.  
And if I had the chance I'd never let you go.  
  
So won't you stay and love me?  
I'll make you so proud of me.  
  
We'll make em turn their heads every place we go.  
So won't you be?"  
  
A small chorus of background illusions began to support the first one in singing a harmonized request or the audience to "be his baby darling."  
  
"I'll make you happy, baby. Just wait and see.  
For every kiss you give me, I'll give you three.  
  
Oh, since the day I saw you  
I have been waiting for you.  
You know I will look for you, til eternity.  
So c'mon and be..."  
  
Again that gentle chorus, singing sweetly in innocent voices, weaving a gentle atmosphere of love in low tones.  
  
The image was programmed with several hours worth of performance, and could sing encores. This distraction wasn't about to end any time before the race itself did. And while it existed it was blanking certain magical signatures from detection.  
  
A new song began, as someone got slowly up onto the stage.  
  
"Have I ever told you?   
How good it feels to hold you?  
It isn't easy to explain.  
  
And though I really keep trying  
I think I may start crying  
my heart can't wait another day.  
When you kiss me I just got to say.  
  
Baby, I love you..."  
  
Nabiki looked out over the crowd, vengeance in her heart.  
  
-------------------------------  
  
Frostbite settled into place and watched. It was her, but it was not her. It set his heart to aching to see her again after all this time, her mirror's image returned to him.  
  
Aramar was a dimensional nexus, and it wasn't unusual for things to wash up on their temporal shores. Much like faroff RIFTS Earth, or the so-called City Of Doors, many realities ended at their doorstep.  
  
It was rare, but not unheard of, for someone to meet their Analogue. Another version of themselves from a different timeline. It was also dangerous, as it was possible for Analogues to "cancel out" like two soap bubbles meeting in air.   
  
It was also quite rare, but certainly not impossible, for a dragon to meet some traveller from a distant time, be courted by them, marry them, watch them grow old and frail and die. To watch the person you care for come into the fullness of life, and rejoice with them. To watch the light fade from their eyes and their body cool, and to feel such pain and despair that one could barely live through it. And then run into the still-young Analogue of that same person.  
  
To try to rekindle that flame? Or to avoid it, knowing that the same pain and loneliness would eventually erupt anew?  
  
Maybe it was best *not* to let things happen.  
  
-------------------------------  
  
"So," the wizardess said of what she considered a half-nymph, "you've gotten tagged with Compulsive Honesty and now you're rooted in the soil."  
  
Nabiki sighed and frowned. "Yeah. This Pheonix Mage guy, I just meet him awhile back. *What* an ...." Nabiki frowned further as something kept her from saying that word. "Anyway, he casts this spell that had my *underwear* propositioning the local wildlife and offering refunds. So I, like, cut the underwear off, except I've now got these little heart shaped patches. Now they're permanent and look kinda like tattoos, y'know, but at least they quieted down.  
  
"But, like, anyway - this Mage-guy threw in a special. If I manage to, like, catch ahold of his clothing while he's wearing it. Then I can get something..." Nabiki's voice trailed off as she realized something was odd, then she really wanted to curse the Mage. "I think he did something to my head, too. I haven't been able to get that comment of his about gold off my mind and that musta been two days ago or so. I think."  
  
Kinon shook her head. Another mage acting as a loose ballista. Obviously he'd done something to screw this half-nymph up. "Hang on, I know a way to cut through all the enchantments. I'll get you loose."  
  
"Really? That would be, like, totally cool." Nabiki couldn't wait for someone to get all the cotton out of her head.  
  
"Yeah, it's already started actually," Kinon smiled reassuringly. "Your magical nature started absorbing the magic cast on you to restore you. It happens with polymorph victims every so often. Since spells like that have a time limit, if I speed time up on you with a Haste, they'll burn out. Also there's a spell for strengthening the Rules on you, so as to return you to what you are normally."  
  
Nabiki blinked. "Okay. I guess."  
  
First went the Haste spell, more than doubling the amount of time passing for Nabiki than for the rest of the world. Then Kinon took a deep breath and unleashed the Inner Nature spell.  
  
"Inner nature, outer form,  
to the Rules you must conform,  
return now status to the norm.  
To true shape now be reborn."  
  
Kinon watched the half-nymph go scampering off and smiled. She deserved a drink for doing such a good deed.  
  
-------------------------------  
  
Once he'd heard the name, Keian had found "Piccolo's Place" to be irresistable as the meet-up location. Named by the Emperor after the Dragonball Z character, mainly because he felt the attitude of the villain-turned-hero was similar to his own image, it was a skyport bar. Where the city of Emeraldis was divided into the five segments, the skyport segment was the most commercially diverse and often downright bizarre.  
  
The streets were full of people not interested in the Race, except for what seemed to be a thriving interest in betting. Thri-kreen buzzed and rasped at each other, burrowers grumbled and growfed, dwarves swore and played some game with cards and tokens, elves hawked various fabrics and jewelry, and other species even more bizarre were hustling and bustling.  
  
A lone elf wanderer, making his way through the streets, was mainly overlooked. Just as Keian had hoped.  
  
The interior of "Piccolo's" proved to be an odd fusion of elements. From the coffeeurn and the rough-hewn solid furniture, one could see Southern Cross influence. From the teapots, rice, and wall scrolls could be inferred House Rising Sun's influence as well. The vaulted ceiling, intricate wood engravings, and presence of ferns could be inferred an elven touch. The solid-looking fitted-stone of the floor bespoke a dwarven hand.  
  
Keeping his hood in place, Keian made his way to an unoccupied booth. From there he could watch in silence. The waitress was one of the catpeople, a kirrfolk he thought they were called. He kept the order simple and in character. Small beer, a barely fermented drink that was safer than unfiltered and unboiled water, and had less alchohol than a glass of wine. Nonetheless, he simply sipped at it while studying the other patrons. Hmmm, maybe distilled water?  
  
No sign of Cloudrunner, which probably meant that everything was OK so far. The only others in the cafe were a pair of mouseling businessmen (businessmice?), one of the slender apelike orahm was wearing what looked like a jeweler's loupe and engraving something with a penlike scriber, there was an Amazon elder of House Rising Sun over at the bar if he was reading the insignia correctly. In other words, a typical crowd at this sort of place during a time when business was at a lull. Perfect.  
  
Emeraldis was originally planned as four communities within a walled city. The really weird races were largely restricted to the "Centaur Quarter" - more due to physical necessity for very large or nonhumanoid beings than active prejudice. The "Halfling Quarter" was similarly restricted, as the buildings were all designed for inhabitants under five feet in height. The "Elven Quarter" was the manors and elite dwellings, the name a holdover from when elves held the reins of power. Now one was just as likely to find halflings or dwarves up there. The final planned section was the "Royal Quarter" - where the castle and various dwellings and businesses feeding the castle were. Then the "fifth quarter" - the port area that had developed after everything had been planned.  
  
Keian was sipping at the small beer, when he noticed the newspaper left at another table. Perfect. "Information is the first principle of survival" or something like that.   
  
-----------------  
  
Nodoka Saotome flipped an order of tempura onto a plate and lofted it along with two orders of noodles to Akane, well, now her name was Scarlet.  
  
Odd that her son had forbidden the girl from doing any help with the cooking, but the help she gave as a waitress was just as well. Scarlet caught the bowls via magic from a ring she'd borrowed that morning for helping around the restaurant and served them to their targets among the tables of waiting women.  
  
At her elbow, wearing a perfectly adorable little dress, ruffles, and ribbons in her hair, five year old Serena (and self proclaimed Priestess of Cute) was wielding two miniature spatulas with childish determination that was just darling.  
  
"One order of okonomiyaki!" Little Serena chirped, flipping the pancake daintily to reveal that it was poured in the shape of a bunny.   
  
With childish seriousness she squiggled sauce in a line to draw a big happy face on it and put it on a plate which she handed to an elf waiting at the counter. "There you go."  
  
Several of the Amazons clapped.  
  
Nodoka paused in the midst of pouring more battle for her when a little tug came on her skirt. Looking back by her heel revealed a small little boy wearing a stocking cap with the tail falling around over his face (to be lifted back and fall into place again and again) and a   
'Buster Brown does Okonomiyaki Sellers Outfit' with well-polished shoes, each with a bright little buckle.  
  
The little boy tugged cheerfully at her skirt again. "Hi mommy! I thought of a song. Can I sing it to you?"  
  
Nodoka lifted the cherub up, blinking at him. She was about to ask the boy who he was when he gave her a big hug around the neck and chirped. "Please?"  
  
And into her ear more quietly, he whispered. "And I couldn't find any other way to hide, mommy. Will you hold my katanas till I'm grown?"   
  
Suddenly her smile went ear to ear.  
  
Nodoka put him proudly up on the counter. "Certainly, my son. Why don't you sing for our guests?"  
  
Giving a pert little okay nod he clasped his little hands behind his back and swayed about while he sang in a chirping too-high childish voice that somehow managed to be almost meltingly adorable.  
  
"In the leafy treetops the birds sing Good Morning  
They're first to see the sun  
They must tell everyone  
In the leafy treetops the birds sing Good Morning."  
  
In his backpack, with one of the Sailors where he'd stashed it, were some forty empty potion bottles which had once held Elixirs of Youth. His supernatural attractiveness had translated down to saccharine cuteness and he'd made use of all of those Know Customs spells anyway, so he used the knowledge to make himself one of the world's most charming four year   
old kids.  
  
He'd fix it all later, after the Race.  
  
Little Serena burned with five-year old rivalry. Here was a challenger to her position as High Priestess of Cute! This MUST be dealt with!!! She leapt giggling upon the boy and oozed little-girl charm amidst curls and ruffles (her old hair style had been too silly, it was   
now a plethora of curls trailing ribbons down her back to go with her fluffy pink dress) as she tickled her cousin with gleeful smiles herself.  
  
It was a war of cute, and the loser was the first who failed to look darling.  
  
-----------------  
  
He'd had to relocate to the bar due to the crowds now developing. So far, it was still various halflings, a few dwarves, and some odd critters he wasn't sure WHAT they were.  
  
One of the Amazons entered, and Keian spent a moment examining the badges on her armor. Her "beach bunny" appearance was confirmed by the upper badge as House Southern Cross. Tanned looking skin, blonde hair, blue eyes, curvy even in chainmail. Also looking thoroughly depressed.  
  
"Dwarvil," said the blonde woman, pulling her hair back as she slumped into her seat at the bar.  
  
"Sure you wouldn't rather have your usual, Captain?" The fire-haired genasi behind the counter continued wiping a glass as she regarded the Amazon. "Y'know that stuff's best saved for pouring on zombies and the like."  
  
"I need something a damn sight stronger than Firewine, Kei."  
  
Keian noted the woman had a thin scar across her face, and would have been in her late-20s if she had been human.  
  
Kei, the bartender, thunked a heavy decanter on the table. "Try this stuff. Latest thing they've come up with based on the Emperor's recollections. They call it 'whisukei' and it's a variety of mash set in oak kegs for nine years."  
  
"Strong?"  
  
"The dwarves swear by it."  
  
The Amazon poured herself a tankard full. "Good enough for me."  
  
Keian watched the Amazon slug it down and said a prayer for her liver.  
  
A drow elf entered, taking the seat in between Keian and the Amazon. She rubbed her temples while ordering a firewine.  
  
Finally, Keian spotted Cloudrunner entering. The sky elf gave a barely perceptible nod than moved to a table where one of the mouselings from earlier was still seated. Evidently she was expected as the two immediately went into deep conversation.  
  
The Elder looked over the Captain with a frown, then a smile creased her craggy features. "Last chance, was it?"  
  
"Yeah," agreed the Captain.  
  
"You too, eh?" The drow grumbled aloud, she slumped forward, causing the white braid of her hair to slide down along her side.  
  
"Well, you're young yet. Ember, isn't it? One of the Esper Guild?"  
  
The drow groaned. "Yeah. Damn there was a lot of psychic interference today. Then I twisted my ankle, and all this bright light is giving me a headache!"  
  
"Tell me about it," Captain Alysse slammed a crystalline pendant onto the bartop. The tinkling sound of it breaking was barely audible over the muted noise of other conversations. "120 gold for that damn tracker. Useless."  
  
The Elder chuckled. "By the Seal, they're selling *those* again?"  
  
Keian tuned out most of the conversation as he watched Cloudrunner angrily argue with the mouseling, who was giving every mannerism indicative of a penny-pinching merchant arguing over price. A thump brought his attention back to the bar where the drow was apparently getting drunk.  
  
"... I mean, I'm not *bad* looking, am I?" The drow exclaimed to the Amazon. "I've got a regular job, I've been rated Fourth Circle as a psychoporter, Seventh Circle as a telekinetic! I mean... I'm not..." The drow looked sadly into her drink.  
  
"Same here. Oh, I admit the scar *might* throw 'em off," Captain Alysse said, "but I've captained skyjammers for years now. I've fought pirates and those damn snakemen and the undead, I *know* I'm not so bad..."  
  
The Elder sighed. "Well, the odds are..."  
  
"Odds, hell. You know the drill. Most of the guys each year *arrange* who they're gonna be caught by. The Race is fixed, and everyone *knows* its fixed, but the random elements give you a chance." Alysse refilled her tankard. "You know darn well the guys check out the girls as much as the girls check out the guys. We... just don't make the cut."  
  
"Why not?" Ember looked around the Amazon. "I'm competent, I pay attention to my appearance, why aren't I attractive enough?"  
  
The Elder gave Alysse and Ember a blank look. "You're asking *me*? How would I know? Ask the elf over there, he's male!"  
  
Keian froze as the two women turned to him.  
  
---------------  
  
Jared Saotome, druid, mage, kensai-monk of a devastating wu shu style was currently the victim of a devastating attack that bypassed most of his defenses.  
  
Guilt.  
  
(Maybe coming here was a bad idea,) thought the currently five year old boy to himself.  
  
"Reika Kokubo? Struck out again, huh?"  
  
"Asly? Fa-fa? Geez, old home week isn't it? Did I spot Fiesh and Tarnya earlier?"  
  
"Yup," the oriental Amazon with the cheongsam-style outfit indicated. "They're still out looking for that Pheonix Mage guy. Face it, if we'd known the competition was *this* fierce we wouldn't have wagered five years."  
  
(Five *years*?!) Jared thought to himself, imagining all sorts of horrible possibilities.  
  
"You think that's bad? Until this Pheonix Mage guy showed, and the profiles on his abilities were posted, it looked like it would be bad. NOW there's over 24,000 hunters competing with us. And that bit at the beginning? Did he honestly think that would distract anyone?" Asly, an Amazon in ring mail with peace-bonded weapons rolled her eyes at the others.  
  
"Well, it might have if that Nabiki person hadn't pointed out that anyone who nabbed him would also get that sort of talent to themselves." Reika was quick to take a seat and exclaim. "What's an okonomiyaki, anyway?"  
  
"Sort of a pancake. Pretty good actually, though I've never heard of the goddess Ucchan before." Fa-fa shrugged, causing the usual ripples of flesh. "I bet he never expected her to actually *use* that Compulsive Honesty curse."  
  
"Yeah, but insulting Wildleaf's outfit and her age," Asly snickered. "So now she's rooted until the end of the race."  
  
"We're gonna lose *again*, aren't we?" Chie, an Amazon wearing a shinobi sort of outfit exclaimed, damn near in tears.  
  
This brought everyone else back down as if a bucket of water had been poured on them.  
  
"Yep," agreed Fa-fa.  
  
"No doubt," sighed Asly, the food no longer tasting as good.  
  
"Well, there's still the birth creches!" Reika tried with some false enthusiasm.  
  
"It's just not the same," grumbled several others simultaneously.  
  
"What's a birth creche?" Jared clamped his mouth shut as he realized he'd spoken.  
  
"My, little boy, you're gonna be a heartbreaker when you grow up," said Reika with no idea of the irony of her statement. "Birth creches are... well. Hey, Wakana? Yuu? Tsukasa? Take a seat. Helga, just the one I wanted to see. You're House Valkyr, can you explain the birth creches to this genasi boy?"  
  
Jared's eyes bugged as he saw a group come in through the door and take a table. The Scouts?! No, these were older - mid 20s or so, and dressed with appropriate badges and sigils to indicate they were Amazons. Probably Analogues- the local "mirror reflections" of the same individuals.   
  
"Well," began the young Nordic-looking girl as she considered Jared for a moment before dismissing some odd idea. "How much do you know about the Delphins, little boy?"  
  
"That your ancestors were humans in the First Age Of Man, that a popular series of holobooks called 'Amazon Pryde' written in 2432 AD was seized upon by a group of genetic engineers as a blueprint for a Utopian society, and that your arcship was one of those 'lost' during the dimensional crossover to escape a genetically engineered race of soldiers that had embarked on a war of genocide against all but their own species. That there was a war between East and West on the planet Delphins shortly after the colony became self-sufficient, and much of the technology was lost. As Delphins men were engineered to be smaller and frailer than the women, without the benefits of the turbocharged immune system, a biological agent by the East wiped out over 99% of the male population and produced a genetic change that altered the male birth ratio from 6:1 to 20:1 or worse. That the genetic damage continues and that Delphin males still die before puberty which further skews the male-female ratio."  
  
Everyone stared at the little boy briefly.  
  
"Well, yes," agreed Helga. "As far as that goes. The birth creches were actually first made using that First Age technology stuff. We've repaired them over the years, they're the reason that House Valkyr is number one among the Houses of the Amazons, but there's a problem with them."  
  
"Copy failure?"  
  
"My, what a bright little boy you are," Helga beamed, noting that she'd have to see if she could introduce one of the younger creche-children to this boy. He'd be an invaluable asset for House Valkyr! "That and magic can only go so far in repairing this technology stuff. If a human and an Amazon have children, the children are Amazons but will have some traits of the father as well."  
  
"Which puts us in the same boat as the nymphs," pointed out Reika. "They have *no* males of their own species. Any child of a nymph is a nymph herself. The satyrs are supposedly okay for a dalliance, but..."  
  
The assembled Amazons made a face. "Goat-men," commented Fa-fa.   
  
Chie made a sobbing noise. "I don't wanna spend the rest of my life alone. Work's nice, but... it doesn't love you back."  
  
"Why can't *we* get lucky?" The Amazon Analogue of Minako Aino shouted from her table.  
  
"Sorry, ma'am," Reika said to the hovering Nodoka. "The food's fine, but it's just that it's really hard on most of us to have come this far and trained this hard, made the time bets, just to find out that the guys in question are either unavailable or didn't choose us."  
  
"Time bets? I thought you were pursuing them, not the other way around."  
  
Reika snorted. "Oh, the time bets. When you sign up as a hunter in this Race, you bet a certain number of years. If you lose, then you stop pursuing for that number of years, absolutely no flirting or anything of the sort. Something the Emperor added years ago. As for who's doing the pursuing, hell, most of the guys 'arrange' to be caught by those they think are most compatible. It's not really against the rules, and it's done all the time. Except it looks like this year, it got royally scr- fouled up."  
  
Jared's eyes widened slightly as Kasumi, not a local Analogue, but the Kasumi that had accompanied that sorcerer version of Ranma stumbled in. Excusing himself from the group, he went to show her to a table and get her a menu. She looked as though she'd been *crying*?!   
  
Behind him, Helga turned to Nodoka. "You're his mother, right? Tell me, have you made any arrangements for when he gets older?"  
  
Nodoka bit her lower lip. She *sympathised* with these women, as perhaps no one who'd not spent by far the greater part of her married life forcibly apart from her husband could. Watching other women with their husbands, never knowing if her own would return, these had been   
leaving deep scars his clearly dishonorable return did nothing to erase.  
  
Looking at their faces, she saw her own misery reflected there.  
  
Nodoka sat down at their table. With the present mood in the Shrine it would only be a matter of time before calls were made for booze and spirits, the grill wasn't likely to see much more use today. Therefore, she had time.  
  
"Son, come here, would you?"  
  
----------------  
  
Jared was bemused. It didn't work on *everyone* but most of those who entered were "read" by the spells. He'd set it up so that there had been a basic Lure spell on the shrine, that would attract those with a certain frame of mind. Inns and taverns apparently used similar things around here. Hungry? You'd find an eatery as if your feet knew the way. Needed a good hot chocolate (though it tasted a bit bitter and off to him, honey didn't quite work in place of the refined sugars he was used to), and you'd find your way there providing the mages did their job of maintaining the spells.  
  
SOMEONE had modified and added to his spells, particularly the sort that determined what and who would find her way here. By accessing the threads of the spells he'd woven earlier, he was able to get a basic impression of anyone who had walked in the front door unless they had really strong anti-divination going. Most here did not.  
  
He interpreted the readings in terms of his RPG knowledge, so the information on this older Kasumi Tendo came across as (human f, LG(N), C1 Healer, wild talent: developing).  
  
Asly was a fencer (Amazon, LN(G), F17 weapon master sabre). Fa-fa was a martial artist (Amazon, LN(G), Monk 9, specialist in dragon kung fu) while Chie was (no surprise) a sort of ninja/courier/commando who worked for her House Rising Sun (Amazon, LN(G), Ninja 7).   
  
Reika Kukubo (obv named after the Sentimental Graffiti character) turned out to be a mage specializing in elemental water. (Amazon, CG, Mage (water) 4)  
  
The Amazon "Scouts" were of three different Houses, but an adventuring band of medium high level.  
  
Kasumi settled for ordering a hot cup of tea and seemed pensive.  
  
"What's wrong, Ka... Lady?"  
  
Kasumi smiled at the little boy as he struggled to pour the tea. "Nothing. It's just that I... I was hoping to find someone. But he wasn't where I had mentioned that I would meet him later, just..."  
  
"So you'd arranged with Ra... one of the guys to meet him and then he had to move because too many huntresses were in the area?"  
  
"It was the crowd," Kasumi explained. "There was a stage show going on and I couldn't get free. I missed meeting him at the appointed place and time, and now..."  
  
Jared winced. "Well... maybe he's waiting for you, he'd have to move because of the patrols, but he'd still be out there."  
  
"Son, come here, would you?"  
  
"I gotta go," Jared said to Kasumi. "Don't give up yet. I'm sure if you want it enough, you can find him." He crossed tiny fingers behind his back as he left and wondered how he'd do this.  
  
An elfin woman set an okonomiyaki in front of Kasumi.  
  
"I'm sorry, I didn't order this." Kasumi blinked up at the young lady, still finding the pointed ears and long eyes to be strange.  
  
"No charge, ma'am." The elf smiled cutely, though there was something wrong with the grin. "On the House, one Oracle Okonomiyaki special."  
  
"Which House?" Kasumi caught the reference, knowing that there were some Amazons who were supposedly supporting her.  
  
"Ah, but that would be telling." The elf grinned, filled two more orders, then ducked around a corner and shapechanged. The little black cat grinned again, and Toltiir vanished. These things were always fun!  
  
Still at her table, Kasumi looked at the picture drawn in the sauce and suddenly *knew* where Ranma was.  
  
-----------------  
  
Shampoo dodged the crossbow bolts, flipped behind a tree to avoid the spear thrust, and slammed her bonbori out to flatten some woman who used what looked like twin baling hooks as weapons.  
  
Her allies, like herself, were all buxom young armed women. Well, except for the one who'd suddenly blurred and shifted and now there was a dragon fighting on her side. Oh, and there were the two girls who had fur.  
  
Her enemies, like her allies, were all women. That was about as far as Shampoo was willing to concede common ground. Each of these girls had hair in a mannish cut if not completely shaved. Most had scars that formed patterns or swirls. Where her allies had either that soft leather armor with the harder plates, or full plate armor in other cases, the enemy all wore an oddly tinted leather armor that was clearly a single type.  
  
Her enemies were fighting with precision that spoke of long association, and were *ruthless*. Two of her allies had been taken out of the fight, then killed while they were helpless. This was unfamiliar ground to Shampoo, she was in a fight for her survival against opponents who used poison and dishonorable tactics.  
  
During the earlier battle, she'd only seen their ships, not the Feryl themselves.  
  
Another ally fell, and the Feryl twisted a barbed spear in the fallen girl's entrails before spitting in her dying victim's face. A moment later, and the dragon's claws had used that pause to rip the spear carrier apart.  
  
Shampoo's attention was mainly on surviving, but a thought penetrated. She *had* to learn some of these other Amazon's techniques!  
  
------------------  
  
"AAAAaaaa!" Keian ran out the door.  
  
"Wait a minute, you!" Ember limped to the door. "There he goes, damnit!"  
  
"Who or what was he?" Alysse lifted the slender-limbed elf easily and began jogging.  
  
"Other than he's wearing a disguise, I don't know. Could be a necromancer, could be one of the Boskone's little animated corpses, could be an oni shapeshifter." Ember frowned at the thought. "He took off the moment I mentioned using a See Trueform pendant, so he's not an unwitting dupe."  
  
"Didn't strike me as evil. A bit vacant, maybe." Alysse started jogging, the elf in her arms not weighing enough to slow her down much though she couldn't run.  
  
"I'll check him out!" A sky elf leapt out of the cafe and took to the air.  
  
"Cleric of Relat?"   
  
"Better'n a cleric of Toltiir," quipped the elf.  
  
"True enough." Alysse shifted her burden slightly and continued jogging.  
  
-------------  
  
Jared went over to their table and fitted himself into his mother's lap.  
  
Laps were surprisingly comfortable furniture, he'd found.  
  
Nodoka beamed as she adjusted the little child more comfortably within her embrace, then brought his attention to the Amazons they shared their table with. "Son, do you have a song you could sing regarding families?"  
  
"Sure!" He chirped, ignoring the bad feeling of warning this gave him.  
  
"Could you please sing it for our guests?" She asked.  
  
He nodded pertly and cutely, then sang.  
"When my mother calls me, quickly I'll obey  
For mother knows just what is best, each and every day."  
  
It had the desired effect of being adorable. When Nodoka asked him to sing again, and fearing his mother was working on some scheme or other, he popped off her lap and went and grabbed Serena. After whispering together in a sweet and darling way for a moment or two in a   
childish huddle, the two broke formation and held hands while they moved in rhythm and sang together.  
  
"It's always fun when grandpa comes, when grandpa comes. Hurray!  
He always says the kindest things and in the kindest way.  
He has a wrinkly, twinkly smile. He's jolly all the day.  
It's always fun for everyone when grandpa comes!"  
  
Nodoka reclaimed her lap pet and sent Serena to fetch water, then softly instructed her flame haired boy. "No dear, I want you to sing another song about mothers and fathers. Can you do that for me?"  
  
He was being corralled, and he knew it. Trouble was he was unsure of how far he was willing to go to get out of it. A little more hesitantly, the boy sang another little ditty as before, but it failed to get him off of the hook, and his mother insisted he sing another. So he tried a dirty, underhanded trick of trying to derail her by singing.  
  
"I know a name, a glorious name, dearer than any other.  
Listen, oh listen, that name to you. It is the name of Mother.  
Mother so tender and kind and true.  
I love you, I love you.  
Mother so tender and kind and true.  
I love you."  
  
As he finished the boy tried hopping out of his mother's lap to run away and perhaps hide in a rain barrel. She was planning something. But she was *also* holding on tightly, so he was stuck unless he wanted to show some clearly non-childlike abilities. It was difficult to keep his expression innocent.  
  
His mother was clearly leading him into a trap.  
  
Nodoka adjusted the child and put her arms around him, giving a secure little cuddle. Leaning forward, she whispered softly in his ear. "Do you see?"  
  
He shook his head.  
  
"Then sing again, and not just about mothers, dear." Nodoka softly instructed.  
  
Giving a grave little nod, he inflated his lungs and went on into the hornet's nest.  
"I love mother, she loves me  
We love daddy, yes siree.  
He loves us and so you see,  
we are a happy family!  
  
I love sister, she loves me  
We love brother, yes siree.  
He loves us and so you see,  
we are a happy family!"  
  
Nodoka rocked the little boy and cooed. "Do you see it now?"  
  
He could. They were now surrounded by Amazons. Baby-hungry Amazons nearly in tears (and in some cases they were). Baby-hungry Amazons led directly to being husband-happy Amazons who desperately wanted fathers for their children and loving husbands to care for. It would take a heart of flint to look on that and still work so hard to remain a bachelor. All they wanted was the love of being married, and they were already prepared to work hard, make tons of sacrifices and... they'd pay and *risk their lives* for a chance to have someone to love and cherish them back.  
  
They were crushed with longing and nearly in despair over their failure to find someone to marry.  
  
He did not have a heart of flint. As Nodoka had planned, once he'd seen it, her boy's last defenses failed.  
  
~But wait a minute. If I were to sacrifice myself, no matter how noble, I'd satisfy what? A dozen, in an extreme case maybe a few hundred? of these ladies? That didn't work, there were twenty thousand in this Race alone. One could only spread himself so thin before the return of   
affection was meaningless. By myself, I am not a sufficient answer.~  
  
~So what would be a more complete answer?~  
  
The little boy leaned forward, cast an Anti-Magic Aura on the table, then pulled out a laptop computer from stuffspace and began to access holographic files. "Okay, mom. What we've got here is a scenario where there are several problems, the most *chief* of which is the almost total lack of males. Now, I could try to address the situation short term or I could go for a more lasting solution."  
  
He brought up a hologram of a Zentraedi landing ship and expanded it to fill the space over the table. "This is a Quiltra Queleual, the third largest standard battle cruiser within the Zentraedi fleet and it carries a handful short of forty thousand men, awake and in stasis. They are *ALL* men, and pretty nieve about women, but once introduced to the concept they can be pretty nice. The magic fields around here would neutralize their technology, so if I were to summon one of these ships, and reduce the fifty-foot giants down to human size, they could be   
captured and after some acclimation would fit in pretty well."  
  
He canceled the active hologram and switched to another, an overhead detail map of the terrain. "The only problem with that is the political situation. There is a really amazingly huge world here with a huge population of Amazons. This kingdom is only a drop in the bucket. AND could you imagine the turmoil it might cause if the neighboring powers became aware these guys had a glut of men? There could well be war, and worse than that, all of this would be only a one-generation fix."  
  
"The only neighboring kingdom that would care is Nihon, House Rising Sun," put in a samurai, obviously from the kingdom in question. "And we have long been allies of Shadar. This is likely to cause friction, but outright hostility is unlikely."  
  
"Between Nihon, Shadar, and the few bases offplane, there *are* no more Delphins that we know of," said Ame to Koto.  
  
"That we *know* of," agreed Koto, beginning a long involved argument about the effectiveness of divinations and esper abilities.  
  
The flame-haired child canceled that hologram and switched to another, a spinning detail model of a human female - the closest approximation in the memory banks for the Delphins Amazons. Before he had a chance to speak, though, he was siezed by Asly, who shook the boy and   
shouted. "YOU! *You're*..."  
  
The little boy smooched her lightly on the lips, then pitched his voice and addressed the crowd while the swordmaster was paralyzed. "I'm not going anywhere. Let's just not SAY anything that a wandering spell could pick up, okay? If someone would be nice enough to go fetch my Sailor Scout friends, I will stay nicely and happily captured. Otherwise I'll have to escape."  
  
Shock and wonder fled through the crowd. They'd WON??!  
  
And this was the Pheonix Mage, ***THE*** most sought-after man of this century! (Well, the Emperor's son Guyin might have beat him out, but not by much.) Out of twenty-four thousand, THEY were the ones to get this lucky?!?!??   
  
Six Amazons immediately took off running. They had Sailor Scouts (look for something that looks like a nautical ranger) to find and return with. (If he'd asked for Godzilla they would have fetched it, that just would have taken more of them). The boy wasn't about to be put down, and he couldn't reach his computer, so he just settled himself more comfortable against the more than ample bosom of the Amazon clutching him like a woman who'd first discovered chocolate. Again, he pitched his voice to carry.  
  
"Ahem, as I was about to say, you're problem isn't *all* that different from the Praxian Amazons. *They've* got a genetic complication where they've got dominant genes that overwrite ones with different traits, including the male gender. So even when they can find a husband   
all but one out of a thousand births are female."  
  
Several of the women in his audience winced. They'd thought THEY had it bad!  
  
The child coughed into his hand. "Ahem, so anyway. What we've got here is a core problem where the men first aren't being born enough, and second, aren't as healthy, so there are a ton who die at a young age. If we could fix THAT it wouldn't help you very much, but your daughters a dozen or so generations down the line would be happy. I don't have any of the equipment here, so if I could get a few willing volunteers to go back to my time with me, there I have a full robotech medical setup with cloning capability. I figure a few decades worth of research, but   
anything that's done can be undone. I'm pretty sure I'll AT LEAST be able to reverse the effects of that ancient bio-weapon on you. I may need your original genetic blueprint from when your race was engineered but I think I can bring the birth rate back up to one male in seven. I may only be able to do it with the ladies who come with me, but their kids ought to spread the trait."  
  
He was surrounded by feral grins.   
  
Reika and one of the Sailor Scout analogs spoke the same thought. "AFTER we marry you."  
  
The child sagged. "Drat. I was hoping you'd forget that part."  
  
---------------------  
  
Nabiki curled up on the rocks, feeling comfortable under the eternal noon. Her clothes, which had become confining and uncomfortable, were discarded for the moment.  
  
The rocks themselves felt oddly comforting under her golden skin. Nabiki stopped and blinked, staring at her hand.  
  
The skin was just a few shades away from gold in hue (or was that more of a copper?) and the nails matched the skin exactly. Her fingers looked longer somehow, more tapered. The nails themselves were longer but narrower and thicker. The skin itself looked slightly unreal, as if it were poreless.  
  
Nabiki threw off the lassitude and started running back to town, worrying about the idea that she might be turning into a pikachu.  
  
"Vael path nakkit chi cailu!"   
  
If she'd realized that she had left her clothes behind she would have been even more concerned. If she'd realized that she was swearing in a completely different language, she might have panicked even more.  
  
---------------------  
  
Ranma hid. Not his usual style, but he had pursued it with his usual focus. First he'd cast an Improved Invisibility at the starting line, then had used a Dimension Door to throw off pursuit by scent or normal tracking. Then he'd cast a spell that made it appear as if he were a tree, while a Project Image of himself ran off from the clearing to lead pursuers off on a goose chase.  
  
He well remembered the Race four years ago, where a young wizardess had waited at the starting line while her familiar- a shire hound, had tracked every movement of her prey. Other times when a druidess had used her abilities to learn the lay of the land, and where her young wizard had gone into hiding. Two years ago when a guy had gone to where he'd buried some equipment for a quick escape, only to find that a young ardrow had discovered it and had been lying in wait. Or the occasion when that young man of Rising Sun had put on the clothes from the night before, only to discover that a magical tracking beacon had been sewn into the lining by an industrious young Amazon of Red Sands.  
  
He'd gotten new clothes that morning, fasted the night before, and taken all the usual precautions of someone trying to outwit hundreds of wily Amazons.  
  
Hours went by, and he felt both thrilled and disappointed. It was all well and good to be successful in one's hiding. Another thing to find out that nobody was pursuing you.  
  
Finally a group came down the trail, and he was a little surprised to see the membership of the group. After all, he'd thought he'd been stood up.  
  
"Oh my. I was *sure* he would be here," said Kasumi, sadness crossing her face.  
  
Megumi drew her katana and seemed to concentrate as if listening. "He's nearby, all right. He must be using some sort of cloaking magic. Everyone spread out and search. Tendo, if you'll stay here, we'll try to chase him this way."  
  
Kasumi sighed and leaned back against a tree. "Oh, Ranma."  
  
Ranma winced as Kasumi leaned up against him. He wasn't sure if Megumi's sword would continue to be fooled by his cloaking spell. If he did a Dimension Door, he'd catch her within the nimbus (and be putting off the inevitable as he'd have to drop the tree-disguise.)  
  
"Ranma, I'm sorry."  
  
-------------------------  
  
"Stop him!" Alysse ran along shifting Ember into a fireman's carry position.  
  
Ember winced at the return of her headache but kept tracking. "Left at the corner."  
  
The fencing master continued, though at a jog her long legs were sufficient to keep her pace against the shapechanger. "That's a dead end, we've got him now."  
  
The two raced into the alley, only to see their winged ally grab the shapechanger and begin lifting him up into the air.  
  
"She can't maintain their combined weight for long, whatever he is, he's too big for her to handle." Alysse noted the direction the two were going in. "They're gonna try and lose us in the crowds over near the Race."  
  
"You're right, she's tiring." Ember kept the tracking link up. "She's straining for altitude."  
  
Alysse shifted the burden of the ardrow on her back. "Right! We'll get to the bottom of this now! Any luck with telepathy?"  
  
"No. I don't have that much energy left, or I'd be able to divert a flow and heal myself. It's about all I can do to keep the tracking in place. That and the few surface thoughts I've been getting are in some odd language. I've heard it before, but I can't think of where."  
  
"Yeah, well, your people tend to be light sensitive," observed Alysse. "We'll be getting a storm later, that might help."  
  
Ember grunted softly. She hated getting rained on.  
  
----------------------------  
  
Amy stared. Mina stared. Rae and Michelle likewise devoted time to staring. Lita considered fainting.  
  
Ame stared. Myn stared. Arae and Iris stared. There was much staring going on. Koto looked like she was considering fainting.  
  
"Uhm, you wouldn't happen to be 'Sailor Scouts' would you?" Ame said after a moment of mutual amazement.  
  
Amy nodded. "You're... us?!"  
  
"Analogues, I'd venture," Arae said, grounding her naginata as she looked over her double. "We're warrior cheerleaders in this other world?"  
  
"No, we are the sailorsuited soldiers of Love & Justice, the Sailor Scouts!" Mina put in. "Uhm, Analogues?"  
  
"If you see the various universes or timelines as a set of mirror images, each slightly different from the rest, than an Analogue is one of those other 'you' reflected in that other reality. A doppelganger if you like, though that term is usually used for a local variety of shapeshifter." Ame adjusted her glasses, noting that her Analogue was doing the same. "Though we're Delphins, you're human, and we appear to be five years older."  
  
"A foot taller, and you've got bigger..." Lita's mouth snapped shut.  
  
"Your connection to the Phoenix Mage is?" Koto asked, recovering slightly.  
  
"Engaged?" Ame seemed to look off into nowhere. "Got it. If we make our sisters here our sisters by Blood Bond..."  
  
Arae smiled. "Their children are our children, by the Rules. Not as satisfying perhaps as the real thing, but less likely to cause problems in the long run."  
  
"What are you talking about?" Rae asked.  
  
The Amazons told her. There was much staring again.  
  
-----------------------  
  
Nabiki stopped at where the stream had broadened out to a sluggish puddle and wondered at the odd lassitude that stole over her. ~I must have gotten turned around in this wood. It's too big to be a park, but it looks so well maintained.~  
  
The water wasn't deep or very far, but she noted a feeling of discomfort at the thought of crossing it. She shook her head at the odd sensation. She wasn't Akane who tried to swim by swallowing large amounts of water, Nabiki had been swimming since she was a child. Wading in, she couldn't help but notice how her skin was now a uniform golden hue. Fortunately the odd buzz caused by the Haste spell had faded, though the extra running speed had been appreciated at the time.  
  
As the water swirled up around her hips, Nabiki pushed off to swim the rest of the way. Something went wrong, however, and she sank like a stone. Panicked hands clawed for the surface, only a few feet away as the odd weakness increased and things faded to black.  
  
------------------------  
  
Ember flipped off Alysse as the sky elf began losing altitude rapidly due to the extra weight of her passenger.  
  
Alysse considered drawing her sword, a silver Kharonian sabre, but thought the crowd too thick. She dashed forward. "Shapechanger, you are *so* under arrest!" She leapt up, catching the two and dragging them down as Ember continued to limp forward.  
  
An Elder smiled and blew a whistle. "Fair catch!"  
  
"Huh?!" Alysse and Ember chorused.  
  
"Sorry, Keian," said Cloudrunner sadly.  
  
The Elder chuckled. "Children, you are destined to live in interesting times, I think."  
  
A short, bald, monk of some halfling race rubbed prayer beads. "This is fate."  
  
"You know," said one of the other Amazons to a creche-mate, "this just throws the betting all to hell."  
  
-----------------  
  
Jim wasn't happy. He wasn't unhappy either. He was distinctly of two minds about the whole thing. On the one hand, he wasn't unhappy with the concept of girls pursuing him. Girls pouncing on him, as a matter of fact, was a rather pleasant concept.  
  
Nymphs had their drawbacks, however. They all looked largely the same, with the same extreme amount of physical "talent" and were eternal teenagers. Only through violence or accident could a nymph die. That didn't keep them from going through a "little death" every so often where their memories were washed away. They did this to themselves, in fact, to keep the burden of years from growing too much to bear.  
  
The leonine girl, on the other hand, was a bit kinky. Even (some people's ideas to the contrary) for him. Fur? A slight muzzle full of fairly sharp teeth? The tail could be fun, but those claws looked like they could do serious damage!  
  
Well, it could have been worse. He could have ended up with one of those halflings. He was *sure* he'd spotted a kender.  
  
Jim shuddered at the thought.  
  
------------------------  
  
"So you see," Koto was explaining as the priest continued to mumble in the background, "by sharing blood and an oath, these 'Sailor Scouts' are now honorary Amazons. Their children will be Amazons. All we'd need to do is get them married to you, and *then* you don't have to worry about getting dogpiled."  
  
"Do you, the Pheonix Mage, object to marrying these young Amazons?" Someone in white robes asked Jared.  
  
"No, but I..." Jared felt like his head was whirling. Especially when he saw a group of six Ukyo (Ukyos?) in their early 20s walk in the door. Three samurai, two ninjas, and a druid/mage if he was reading things right. This was *quite* distracting.  
  
"Do you, the Pheonix Mage, swear to cherish and hearken unto these young Amazons known as the 'Sailor Scouts'?" The white robed woman asked, kindly and barely audible over an order for six okonomiyaki "Wedding Bell" specials.  
  
Jared could barely spare any attention as one of the Ukyo pointed out their resemblence to the deity and wondered aloud if they could learn to make these okonomiyaki things. "Uhm, yeah, I guess."  
  
"Then do you, Sailor Scouts, take this mage as your Amazon husband to cherish and protect, to serve him as he serves you, and to raise Amazon children thereby?"  
  
"HUH?!" Jared's attention snapped back to the white robed girl with an audible click.  
  
"HAI!" The chorus came from a small group of young Scouts, a couple of elves, a transformed dragon, and a couple of Amazons.  
  
Nodoka pried Jared's jaw off the floor. "Congratulations, son. Oh, you have made me so proud!" ~Now if only *my* Ranma could do this. Ah, he would be so manly! And think of the grandchildren!~ Nodoka beamed a smile at the assemblage.  
  
Jared stared in horror. The Scouts had had a membership drive. He even had an ardrow ninja giving a proud V for victory sign. "Urk!" He considered fainting but...   
  
oh dear. That felt like a Geas. His magical defenses could handle it no problem. The Scouts, on the other hand.   
  
Wedding vows with the force of a Geas. This could be bad.  
  
-----------------  
  
Nabiki groaned and stirred, feeling as if she'd just been sleeping for a very long time. There was still the lingering effects of that weakness. She stopped and sniffed the air. ~A male? Nearby. There's also danger. Not here but nearby. The male smells cute. Huh?~  
  
The realization was enough for Nabiki to open her eyes and struggle up to a seated position. Hey, that was Garr over there!  
  
"What did you think you were doing, oriad?" The boy looked vexed and was wearing clothes soaked through.  
  
Nabiki realized that *she* had forgotten her clothes somewhere along the way and went to a position that didn't flash her assets quite to the same extent. "Excuse me?"  
  
The boy looked a little startled, then relaxed slightly. "Oh, let me guess, you recently did that memory purge thing, didn't you? You're an oriad, remember? A nymph of the earth element. Water weakens you. If I hadn't seen you go in, you might have been stuck in that stream bed until the druids found you."  
  
Nabiki blinked. ~A nymph?~ "What do you mean, a nymph? I'm..." ~He doesn't recognize me?~  
  
"Anyway, you should be more careful. I know you never get sick or old or any of that, but accidents or violence can still hurt you." Garr relaxed slightly as the nymph just sat there without making any moves towards him. This one looked a bit different in the face, and the hairstyle was different, but all nymphs tended to look alike. Maybe he'd met her before, not that she would remember him if she'd purged her memories. Enough did it at some point, their memories weighing them down over centuries until they made a decision and woke up with a nearly empty head.  
  
~I'm a nymph?!~ Nabiki frowned, remembering Silvara and some of the others she'd seen prior to the Race. Face and figure almost cartoon exaggerated feminine. ~That dwarf said something about them. 'Eternal Teenagers' - never getting any older. Am I like that now? Seventeen forever?~  
  
"Anyway, I gotta be going. This wood is pretty safe, at least for an oriad."  
  
"It's not. There's a fight..." Nabiki's voice trailed off uncertainly. How did she know? She just felt as if there was a fight. Over THERE.  
  
"A fight? Are you sure?" Garr wasn't certain of this but he had known a few nymphs over the years. Nymphs couldn't lie, directly at least. If one of them said there was a fight, then there was a fight. "They shouldn't be doing that, they're not allowed to battle during the Race. That's what the Challenge Rings are for, after all."  
  
Nabiki listened to the little voice. The fight was getting closer.  
  
------------------  
  
Jared mumbled as he looked at the crowd, composed of his brides (?), well-wishers, hangers-on, and various and sundry others. ~How in the Name did I get myself into this mess?~  
  
"Wow, you gonna have that many girlfriends when you grow up?" Serena said, impressed. The five year old wondered if her cousin was a masochist or simply had a high opinion of himself.  
  
"Eeep," commented Jared in reply, though with all the cheers and celebrations, along with mumbled condolences and sad commentary from those who *hadn't* found husbands, it was hard to overhear him.  
  
"Ah, my son," Nodoka Saotome continued to wipe proud tears from her eyes, "TRULY you are a man among men."  
  
"A True Man Of Shadar," agreed a priestess with a nod.  
  
"Eeeple," expanded Jared, his eyes caught the crowds of women present and outside the cafe. Was that Luna over there? Well, he had enough trouble with Artemis.   
  
"What a pity that you couldn't accept a few more," said Nodoka as she caught a glimpse of a small crowd of sad girls.  
  
Jared reacted as if stung. "I think I've got more than enough on my plate. WAY more. Since those two other humans here are fanfic writers, maybe Sjul will bring some more. I kind of wish there were a lot more humans like that around here..." Jared's eyes widened. ~Uh oh. Wait, I don't have any wishing devices on me. Whew!~  
  
Jared winced as the black cat (unnoticed by any save himself) winked directly at him and vanished. ~Double uh-oh. That wasn't who I thought it was...~  
  
A beam of light slammed into the ground hard enough that the vibration was felt throughout the cafe. Ukyo Kuonji, but an Ukyo made glowing and 12ft tall, appeared within the column of swirling brilliance.  
  
"Patrons, I have heard the prayer of this male, and it shall be GRANTED!" The goddess said this in a voice that carried over the assemblage and vanished.  
  
"IT WASN'T A PRAYER!" Jared shouted at the sky. "It was just an idle comment!" He noted that he was now sixteen, marriageable age within Shadarian law. ~Uh oh x3~  
  
"It...it's a miracle!" one Amazon announced.  
  
"I dunno, it just looked like a manifestation to me," a second Amazon commented.  
  
---------------------  
  
Garr leapt to the side with a squeak as a barbed spear slammed into the ground he had vacated.  
  
Nabiki stood, a little uncertainly, as the fight the rocks had told her of swept into their area.  
  
Shampoo's clothes were torn, and her hair blacked by a burn in a streak, but she was still fighting.  
  
A golden dragon was being dogpiled by a group of women who had apparently ritually scarred their faces.  
  
There were other Amazons wearing blazes and badges of four Delphins Houses (Greenfield, Southern Cross, Rising Sun, and Northstar) apparently fighting on the same side as Shampoo and the dragon.  
  
The fight was a chaotic mess, the discipline of both sides having degraded into a fierce set of personal grudges.  
  
Nabiki saw one of the scarred women bring a crossbow up towards Garr. She leapt.  
  
As she saw her golden flesh pierced by the bolt, Nabiki wondered why she had done this. Because Garr was potentially lucrative to her? Because he had saved her life and she was just repaying it? Because... Nabiki let the darkness claim her. She was just so tired.  
  
-------------------  
  
Ranma felt himself grabbed by Kasumi, who had apparently had a really bad day and was in desperate need of someone's shoulder to cry on.  
  
Ranma wasn't sure how to handle this, and so merely held her close as a squad of Amazons surrounded them but held their distance.  
  
---------------------  
  
Shampoo felt the bolt slam home in her back and everything blurred into a red haze. Her exhaustion fell away to the desire for warm red blood to flow.  
  
She was vaguely aware of the enemy retreating but there were others around her, others who were a threat. Well there was one thing to do about that! She threw her weapons away, it was not nearly as satisfying as using her hands directly.  
  
Except that a clawed hand that was sufficiently large that it covered her from chin to ankle slammed her into the ground and held her there.  
  
Shampoo struggled, needing to kill and maim and destroy. Or at least seriously hurt. She would not be defeated, she would not lose. She tried to bite but couldn't seem to get much purchase with her teeth.  
  
*~I really didn't want to go through this again. Heal. Command: Sleep.~*  
  
---------------------  
  
Magic swept out from the Shrine. Passing a young mage being held by a distraught cleric. Passing a young Delphins male who had to get his rescuer to a cleric, and knew only one place where he could find clerics who could remove the magically active poison. (The problem was that this place was the Finish Line.)  
  
Swept past a group of young women trying to get to know each other and the young man they had captured. Swept on past similar scenes elsewhere. But in sweeping it left something behind.  
  
James Bateman hit the ground with an absolute lack of grace. He spent a moment trying to categorize the sensations.  
  
Sudden pain, check.  
  
Sensation of falling, check.  
  
Brief period of blackness followed by bright light, check.  
  
Analysis: you're dead, Jim.  
  
He just hadn't expected it to still hurt after he was dead, or for it to feel like he had a rock stuck about an inch below the right shoulderblade. He lifted himself up to a sitting position, and opened his eyes. His jaw dropped immediately.  
  
There were six maidens in front of him, looking at him with surprise and concern. Identical except for clothing, that some looked slightly younger or older, and that hairstyle varied slightly. Three were dressed and armed as samurai. Two were wearing ninja garb. One was dressed in blue robes decorated with embroidered ivy.  
  
They were all Ucchan.  
  
Before he passed out, Zen said a thank you. Clearly, there was a god. Also clearly, whatever he'd done in his life, he'd made it to the Good Place.  
  
The six Amazons noted that the male was human, had spoken some odd language, and had stared at them in a way that suggested that perhaps the Race had not ended on complete loss after all. Lifting the fallen male to their shoulders, they set out for the Finish Line.  
  
------------------  
  
Gaming Data:_______  
Psionics are a matter of channelling one's inner strength or psychic potential into a specific ability. The major categories of psionics practiced in Aramar are:  
Clairsentience: psychic perception abilities  
Psychomet: aka Psychometabolism, the ability to alter one's own body through psychic energy.  
Psychoportation: sidestepping distance through talents like teleportation.  
Telekinesis: physical manifestation psionics such as moving objects with one's mind.  
Telepathy: mind-to-mind communication.  
The major types of psionic individuals are:  
Dragons, who have some sensory and communication abilities.  
Mu, whose powers of the mind are amplified by the hive and can literally move mountains.  
The Trained, scholars and researchers such as can be found in universities. Mainly have telepathic or clarsentient abilities.  
Senpsi, the rare ones who develop their psionic abilities as part of their discipline in the martial arts. Usually Psychomet or Telekinetic.  
Wild Talents, otherwise normal individuals who have a psychic gift- often a result of an ancestor who adventured a few too many times.  
Tuners, those who work with the crystals. May have any number of odd talents.  
  
  
  
=====================  
  



	3. Default Chapter Title

  
A Different Art  
Xover elements end early through this chapter.  
Chapter 7: Aftermath of a Race.  
Some scenes by Skysaber and Kevin (Keian) W. Patterson. Some characters by other people. The writers do not take responsibility for anyone who is a sufficient idiot that they want to try out Amazon Boot Camp training techniques in Real Life among other things.  
Zen does not appear in this chapter, and who knew he had that kind of endurance anyway?  
  
"Acts of unwitting heroism during the period of adaptation to the Rules will always be rewarded. Heroes need all the help they can get."  
Rules, volumn XXIV, page 1,204, chapter 9: the Adaptation Of Relocating Planewalkers  
  
"No good deed goes unpunished."  
-Villains handbook, page 113, chapter 2: exploiting your opponent's weaknesses for fun and profit  
  
---------------  
  
Emeraldis had gotten its name because the rock used originally in the construction had a considerable amount of copper oxide present. Hence the streets, buildings, etc had had this greenish tint to it. The Emperor's reaction to seeing his new capital city (after Kharonia's King had retired to go into spell research and let someone *else* worry about the administrative crap, and after returning from the Godswar) would put this fic into an R rating just from a fifteen minute rant about living in multiple-deleted-expletives "Oz." He then altered the building codes to suggest that variety would be good, got buried in a lot of *other* fallout from the Godswar and Sundering, then didn't see what the construction people were doing until over a year had passed. When he had the Emperor was properly horrified at what the construction people had done.  
  
There was still a lot of green, it was the common building material and most of the inhabitants liked it. The Tourism Board had already made up flyers about the Emerald City and one entering the city saw green roads and buildings everywhere one looked at least until one got off the main drag.  
  
The other factor in the bizarre constructs of Emeraldis was the nature of its inhabitants. Things and people from downtime could wash up on odd occasion in Aramar. Most of the time this didn't leave a Zone behind, but buildings were another thing altogether. Some of which could be disassembled and moved into the city. There were also mantis-people (thri-kreen), centaurs, elves, dwarves, five races of halfling, Amazons of four Houses, nymphs, the occasional pan-dimensional being, the blue jellylike bunjari and other races. And their cultural influences were everywhere.  
  
Hence, on the main drag, not far from Piccolo's Place, was the Emerald Tearoom. An odd place which combined martial arts dojo, oriental teahouse, and community message board. The exterior of which bore an odd resemblence to a Japanese temple.  
  
Keian walked over to the table in the corner where, for the moment, the Pheonix Mage sat alone. The Mage sat with his head in his hands, tapping his fingers, apparently lost in thought.   
  
"I wanted to find you and say thanks before you left," Keian began.  
  
Jared looked up, and seemed a bit startled. He smiled, seeming to brighten up with company. "No problem," he replied cheerfully, and then paused. "Uhm, thanks for what?"  
  
"For attempting to help me and the other guys out at the race."  
  
Jared looked pointedly at the three rings on one of Keian's fingers. "I didn't do as much as I had planned on, and I didn't seem to help anyone out, least of all myself."  
  
Keian blushed a bit as he felt the three rings on his finger, separate styles that fit together almost as a single ring. "The outcome was not what I planned, but don't worry about that. It may be for the best in the long run. Who knows?   
  
"And besides, it was the effort I wanted to the thank you for. We hardly know each other, and you went well out of your way to try and give me and the others guys a lot of help."  
  
Jared modestly shrugged his shoulders. "Don't mention it."   
  
He seemed about to turn back, when Keian pulled out a chair and sat down. "Do you have a minute?" he asked.  
  
"Sure," the flamed-haired youth responded. "What's up?"  
  
"I want to talk to you about some of the plans I have heard about," Keian said quietly. "Or rather, I want to talk to you about the plans you seem to have."  
  
A dozen different things he was currently working flashed through the Mage's mind, while he scratched behind his head. "What plans would those be?"  
  
Keian looked at him for a moment, and considered. "I've heard that you were planning on trying to fix the ratio of male-female children born to the Amazons."  
  
"I seem to have mentioned something about that," Jared replied, inwardly relieved this was not going to be about some of his more delicate plans. Or his current situation.  
  
Keian nodded slowly. He did not say anything for a moment, and then signaled for service. A buxom woman with bright green eyes and hair came up quickly. Keian blinked for a moment, but it was difficult to say if it was the hair or prompt service that surprised him. "Some peppermint tea, please."  
  
She grinned pleasantly. "Right away, sir."  
  
He turned to gaze out across the room. "How much about the Rules have you learned, Pheonix? Or do you prefer to be called The Mage?"  
  
"Actually, my friends call me Jared."  
  
Keian looked back and smiled. "Okay, Jared. How much about the Rules have you learned?"  
  
Jared cocked his head at the apparent change of topic. "A fair amount, I guess. I have not studied them too much here, but I have come across similar things in the past."  
  
Keian nodded in understanding. He turned back to look across the room. "I have been thinking a lot about the Rules, actually. The importance and impact they have on everything here is almost beyond measure." He glanced back at Jared, and held up the hand with three new rings on it. "I now have some long term commitments here. And that means I will be staying. And the longer I stay, the more the Rules will act to change me.   
  
"But perhaps the Rules are not changing me directly. Perhaps the situation is more like this: The Rules are channels and pathways to safely release a lot of excess Magic energy. People from other dimensions enter this Universe with a very large Potential Energy, but very little of it realized. What they do, what they say, what they even think begins to release that energy, and the Rules safely channel that release into patterns that are not destructive."  
  
"You think what happened to original Scarlet wasn't destructive?" Jared challenged.  
  
"For her personally, and for many of the people she met, sure. But not as far as the Universe was concerned," Keian replied, getting more energetic as he spoke. "I have been talking to Ranma about this. There is one school of thought that gives a lot of support to this  
interpretation, and I think it is the one Ranma himself ascribes to, but it is by no means the only explanation."  
  
"Okay. I can see how that would work. What's your point?"  
  
"I'm getting there," he said, and would have continued. However, the peppermint tea ordered earlier arrived, brought by an equally beautiful woman, this time with matching blue eyes and hair. "That is really going to take some getting used to," Keian said, almost to himself.  
  
"Nymphs." Jared chuckled a bit. "You get used to it. Go on."  
  
Keian sipped his tea, and quickly put it down. "Way too hot, still." He cupped his hands around the steaming cup, and continued. "The Rules seem to map out certain stable points. Anything too far away from these stable points moves into another point, sliding slowly at first, but gathering speed as it moves, releasing the potential to a new stability. People in a stable point can move to another stable point mapped out by the Rules, but it takes effort, energy.  
  
"Sometimes it takes a change in profession, and years of work, and then one only moves a little, from this Occupation to that Occupation. Other times a great amount of energy is used, be it transformation magic, or something else. In any case, the Universe here seems to dislike certain states of being."  
  
"Nature abhors a vacuum?" Jared joked.   
  
Keian nodded, and took another sip of his tea. He let out a pleased sigh. "That's better.  
"Yes, I think that might be a good way to say it. Nature here abhors certain states of being, and moves things around until it is more comfortable with them.  
  
"Now, one of those things it is comfortable with seems to be the Amazons. If a human woman from my world showed up, said the right things, did the right things, she would become one. Her mind would change in subtle ways. She would gain certain abilities, perhaps losing some she had already had. Her biology would change, to match those of the current Amazons."  
  
Keian turned to look Jared directly. "Her DNA would change to match the stable pattern that this world recognizes as 'Amazon.'"  
  
Jared's eyes were wide, blinking very slowly.  
  
"So," Keian continued, "what do think will happen when 100 or more women are taken from this world to a civilization with very advanced genetic manipulation techniques, the DNA traits which generate the current male to female ratios are changed, and these new beings, which are no longer really Amazons as they are currently defined here, come back to this Universe, talking like Amazons, acting like Amazons, thinking like Amazons..."  
  
"They would become Amazons," Jared finished for him.  
  
"I think that is a very real possibility. I have not studied enough to know, yet, though. When the local gods stabilized reality the first time, there were twelve volumes of Rules. Namerank mages over the ages have added, using what was supposed to be a regulating mechanism, so that there are now over *three hundred* volumes of Rules. I have been asking Yusef some questions about how the Rules change people, including their DNA, and I think that is what would happen, but I don't know."  
  
Jared looked at him sharply. "Yes, I know better than to ask what the result in the future will be," Keian said. "Trends he can handle without the penalty."  
  
"So," Jared said slowly, "I can't fix them someplace else and bring them back here."  
  
"No," Keian said, "Not and still have them be the people they are now."  
  
"Okay, I will just have to stay here longer, and figure out how to make the changes here." Jared's mind began to generate and discard a variety of ideas. Bring some DNA researchers here? Laboratories would be a real pain to bring along...  
  
"I think that has a better chance of success," Keian said carefully.  
  
Jared looked at him. "But you have doubts."  
  
"Many. But I think you are talking more than just my self-confidence." Keian sipped from his tea again, and another waitress came up.  
  
"Do you like your tea, sir?" This waitress had violet hair that seemed to be getting in the way of her violet eyes.  
  
"Yes, very much." As she turned to go, he called out. "I could use another in a few minutes, if you do not mind." She winked over her shoulder as she walked away.  
  
Keian watched her walk away. "I swear, those three girls looks similar enough to be sisters."  
  
"Nymphs all look alike. Well, mainly," Jared said, although he had never seen these particular ones before today. "Who knows how the genetics of hair like that works?"  
  
"Yes, who does? But that's only half my point. Look, social structures are about as delicate a stability point as you can find."  
  
Jared was begin to look closely at Keian. The conversation seemed to skitter about all over the place, but Jared felt it was being drawn to a single point. Keian either did not notice, or did not say anything about it, but continued speaking.  
  
"The current Shadar Empire, from what I can find out, has been the most stable government to come around in the last several hundred years. In fact, it has pulled into alliance a lot of different factions that might otherwise have been at war with one another. Meanwhile, it has stopped several attacks and invasions from forces that would have been very unpleasant should they have won. It has promoted the arts, economic development, education. It hasn't been perfect, but it really does seem to be a benevolent structure.   
  
"In the not too distant future, the question of succession is going to have to be handled, and there is not a good tradition to draw on here. It might go smoothly, but it could also be a crisis point, and a point where things fall apart. But that is not what I getting  
to."  
  
Keian looked over at Jared careful. "Let's suppose you, do bring a group of highly talented genetic engineers here, into this world, and under their direction, create a new magical virus which will spread through the Amazon's and change their DNA so that male to  
female births are near even. And let's say that you do so in such a way as to be stable within the Rules, and everything turns out the way you expect.  
  
"What happens next?"  
  
Jared seemed almost surprised by the question. "What do you mean, what happens next?"  
  
"Just that. What happens after that?"  
  
The flame-haired mage shrugged. "First of all, the 'team of engineers' was always going to be just me. Robotech labs are almost all automated anyway. I'd just have to find a qualified enough Thaumaturgist to teach me how to keep the stuff running here. Secondly, it was never   
part of my plan to make the births even. I like the idea of men being valued, there was an astounding lack of that on one of the worlds that I'm from. One male in seven sounds about right."  
  
"Thaumaturgist?" Keian whispered. "I'm not sure I know..."  
  
Jared took a sip of his hot chocolate, noting that this wasn't such a bad society. It had hot chocolate, it didn't have some of the problems of 20th Century America. It *did* have its own problems, but they were generally livable. "It's what I call the brand of mage who makes science work in a magical environment. I don't know what they call the local ones, but on my world anything more complex than a crossbow would spontantiously turn into a hunk of wood if it didn't have magic holding it together. Thus, science worked, but only by magic. I'm not sure of the local limits, but spells in that vein ought to be useful."   
  
"Ah," said Keian. "I ran across this in talking with some of the Amazons about their own concerns. Apparently their own birth creches are a mix of what we would consider high tech genetic cloning vats and magic that stabilizes the stuff as well as makes up for the parts that have broken down."  
  
"Ah. I knew there would be a local equivalent." Jared put down his cup. "But okay, here's what happens next. The plan so far is to obtain the unaltered genetic blueprint from these   
Amazons from before they got rewired. That could be as simple as timetraveling in to an appropriate period and snagging a lock of hair from an unattended brush, or it might be much more complicated. Probably would be as I'm told the last time someone tried something like this, they had inadvertantly created House Southern Cross and the Damarin Prophesies. Taking their mistakes into consideration, I think it could be done. Then I apply the change and I'm off."  
  
"Oh good, you *did* hear about that. They went in with damn near the exact same plan." Keian nodded. "In any case, that's the start. More male children are born, so the total number and strength of the warriors being born into the Empire drops. Remember that the male of the species isn't as physically powerful as the females. The social culture of the Amazons are radically ripped apart in a single generation, as they have how many years of tradition to over come before they adept to an equalitarian society? There also comes a population boom for the Amazons shortly thereafter, as the social traditions will not change enough in a single generation to prevent the imperative of procreation from doing that. Now we have one of the biggest supporting elements of the best government this world has seen in a long time undergoing social turmoil combined with population pressures.  
  
"How ready is this world for that? Do they have the room to grow? Yes, there's an awfully big surface area, but there are various unfriendly forces or limiting factors in place in all directions. The Boskone to the West, the Dead Lands to the East, the Maelstrom to the North, and the allied Kingdom of Nihon to the South. Can the Empire absorb these changes within their current resources? Will this force an expansionistic Imperial policy, encouraging the Empire to grow via conquest? Perhaps the population boom would take place just in time to allow for a  
necessary labor pool for some other great change? Who knows?   
  
"Wait, waitwaitwaitwait..." The Pheonix Mage protested, holding up his hands to signal a time out. "You imagine my hand to be less subtle than it is. I have already considered those. What do you think I'm doing here? Surgery by machinegun is out of the question. You never know what's going to happen if you release a virus like that generally. Viruses and bacteria alter each other and react in a natural environment, teaching each other their tricks. There's no WAY you could control something like that once you'd released it, and the results are infinitely more likely to be terrible than beneficial - look at what caused this mess in the first place."  
  
"Twenty fourth century genetic engineers trying to come up with an ideal society based on their equivelant of a trade paperback series? Or the war of ideologies in the Delphins past? Or the Feryl-Delphins War that deprived both of their homeworlds?" Keian grinned slightly.  
  
"Ah, you've heard. No, widespread contagion is out of the question. Secondly, I like the Amazons as they are. I have no need nor want to turn them into humans. Ripped apart in a single generation? I have no intention of ripping it apart at all. The Amazons are admirable in many ways, even if their cultures are a hodgepodge of whatever 'Ancient Wisdom' they've garnered. Now let me tell you my means to do this."  
  
The Mage inhaled deeply and dropped his gaze to a spot on the table, playing idly with the spoon in his glass. "Imagine this scenario. I take the time to divine a solution, and apply it on an individual basis to about a hundred Amazons, being *very* careful to do nothing more than restore the originally planned birth rate of one male in seven. Even if I had power to do more I'd not want to. Now, say a hundred of these Amazons. We'd have to have some of these Nameranks create a new sub-Rule for them, call them True Delphins or whatever. Let them belong to whatever House they may. But all that is doable. Now if we assume that through creche or marriage each bears an average of three and a half children, that is by pure average one male birth per two mothers. This is, of course, if I can find a way past the tricky little spins that previous genetic engineers left in there.  
  
"Naturally those who survive to maturity will pass the True Delphins traits on, but I also rig it so that the female children pass those traits on as well. In one generation's time I've done no more than produce a bumper crop of males no greater than the influx around this race. Not a big deal. Assuming all the ones of that generation survive, which they won't, and the men each marry ten wives, which seems unlikely, then the next generation will have still short of three thousand of these True Delphins just going by those same numbers. It would take a dozen or more of these generations before the population of Delphins all had a chance to marry and their kids join the True Delphin line, and it won't happen that fast."  
  
The Mage raised his face and met his table-mate in the eyes, tear tracks sliding down his face. "Right now there are over a hundred willing females for every male, once you count in all the dryads and others that add confusion to the normal Delphins birth rate. One man with a hundred wives is unstable, too small a return of time and affection. Once the dozen, or sixty, generations that need to pass have passed away and all this stands corrected to the original levels, there will be something like one male in ten. THAT is a scenario that stands reasonably secure. Those males will still stay valuable, they always are in short supply and will be even then. But the hopelessness is gone, don't you see? Things happen at a gradual rate, with time for acclimation for everyone. They likely won't even notice they are doing what acclimating their generation calls for, it will just flow naturally. And when all is said and done, kingdoms expand or contract naturally anyway, neither the Amazon culture - which I love dearly - or this empire are in any danger. But so much pain and hopelessness has been done away. Women may be cheerful in that their daughters will live in a better, more hopeful world. Daughter may   
find just a few more husbands to share, and know their daughters will have it better - It's small comfort for those alive now, but it *is* a source of some comfort. And eventually they will still be Amazons, they just won't be so crushingly alone."  
  
The flame-haired mage pushed away from the table and stood up, wiping one of his cheeks from its tears. "I stand against evil in all its forms, in all times and in all places. I will do what good I can in whatever place I may be in. As for destroying any part of this good place? No. I am a druid, and one must respect the balance of nature. See you around."  
  
Keian watched him go, and smiled a little at how stiffly the Pheonix Mage walked.  
  
Jared flipped a platinum coin to the barmaid. Inhaling, he shouted. "Where can a man go to kill something evil around here? I've got some stress to work off!"  
  
There were some snickers from some of the Amazons and a few comments about how those Scouts would help with that, turning the Mage a deep scarlet color. Finally a dwarf took pity on him. "Wouldst undead, goblinkin, or vile things from beyond the borders suit thy fancy, milord?"  
  
"Goblins and their kin sound ideal, lead on my good man, er, dwarf."  
  
Keian watched him leave the bar, and continued to sip on his tea. "You are thinking of the long term now, Jared-san, but were you before I asked?" he wondered. The answer was irrelevant. Keian suspected that the Pheonix Mage's mind worked faster than his. It was not his to oppose this, and he agreed with Jared that it would, in the long run, probably be a good thing. But worried still about how the secondary ripples would change things. Besides, it would take a few generations for the trend to be noticed. Time enough to think it through, and if necessary, make preparations. And to speculate on the morality of changing a society to suit one's personal aesthetics. He finished his tea, and stood up to leave.  
  
And the Amazons commented on how stiffly Keian walked as well. Not that they were correct in their conclusions, but the truth was hardly as interesting as their speculation.  
  
Besides, they just liked having guys blush.  
  
-------------------  
  
Her name was Lita Storm, though that odd cyborg fellow she'd run into in her home dimension kept calling her 'Makoto' or 'Kino-san' for some reason.  
  
In her home Reality she had been a high school student who had recently learned that she was the incarnation of some sentai sort of hero named Sailor Jupiter (which she personally found embarassing as sentai series had struck her as silly even before the JSDF (Japanese Self Defense Force) had launched that ill-fated attack on Jedite's Dark Citadel). She'd developed an enormous crush on the Pheonix Mage, made friends (and sparring partners) with a Chinese Amazon, and stolen a magic warhammer from the weirdo gaijin cyborg.  
  
Well, not really stolen it, as she understood it he couldn't give it to her because of some weird rules he had to follow from his employers.  
  
It had been an eventful two weeks.  
  
Now she was looking at herself, a five year older, foot taller, more developed version of herself, but there was an unmistakable sense of looking at some odd mirror image here.  
  
Koto looked at the younger version of herself and smirked. "So you're telling me you're involved with that Pheonix Mage guy, and involved in your basic Good Versus Evil Epic Struggle?"  
  
"Yeah, that pretty much sums it up." Lita nodded and sipped at this odd stuff. Kiishan fruit punch, which seemed to change flavors slightly with every sip. There was an elusive quality that couldn't decide if it was sweet or tart or something else.  
  
"Brings back memories," sighed Koto, getting a far-away look to her eyes. "Fighting that rogue dragon Pyre, the evil sorceress Dyannon, skirmishes with Red Rocket and the like. Ah, *those* were the days."  
  
"So why did you call this little meeting?" Lita looked up at the taller version and tried to imagine what she was talking about.  
  
"What will you do *after* the fight is won?" Koto's gaze was disconcertingly direct.  
  
"You think we will? Things are looking up, but that Dark Queen type has entrenched herself pretty well in our world. She's apparently gotten a lot more power than in those stories Jay-chan keeps referring to." Lita shrugged. After the JSDF had been slaughtered, the police largely exterminated, the economic collapse of Japan, and all the other horrors occurring due to the youma presence on the Home Islands, she'd gotten so caught up with day-to-day survival that longrange plans had fallen by the wayside.  
  
Koto pushed a leathern bag about the size of a five pound bag of sugar across the table. "Take this, it might help when the battle's done."  
  
Lita opened the drawstring slightly and looked in at tiny paper bags marked with little drawings. "What's this?"  
  
"Seeds," Koto said with a wink. "I've never heard of a major battle between the champions of Good and Evil that didn't involve massive collatoral damage. You know how the Delphins history has been rewritten by Ryune from the old mechanisms?"  
  
Lita shook her head. There had been so much new and different that she was still running into things that threw her for a loop.  
  
"Okay, well one of our males, a human also, has the gift of deciphering languages. Cuts through a lot of the legend and myth to find out that your favorite legendary heroic warrior wanted nothing more than to settle down with her husband and raise their kids." Koto shook her head at learning that the 'fierce and fearless Kinasha Re' would have preferred staying home and making love instead of going out and becoming a legendary warrior. "Anyway, the records state that the legendary First Race - that's you humans by the way, unlocked the secrets of the codes of life."  
  
"Okay, genetic engineering," Lita said with a nod.  
  
"Anyway, that means that some of our plants would have originated in such studies, right? Some of Ryune's stories tell us that the First Race went out and colonized worlds and used their tricks to make stuff that would grow where nothing else would. THAT is a bag of such stuff, at least I don't think any of the breeds are magical." Koto shrugged. "Though the way that spregrass grows, I wouldn't be at all surprised..."  
  
"Seeds?" Lita blinked as she peeked within the bag again. "Any flowers in there?"  
  
Koto smiled openly and winked. "Hey, you're me, remember? Of *course* there are flower seeds."  
  
--------------------  
  
Ranma sat back in the chair, regarding the other human and the genasi (though he said he was an elf, he looked like a genasi, and according to Megumi he had ties to the Host) and wondered at the odd events that had caused this mess. It had been hours since Jared had gone goblin-hunting, only to come back looking exhausted. (Which of course, sparked much ribald speculation from certain Amazons.)  
  
"Where're *your* wives?" Ranma asked with a smile and a sip of his kiishan fruit punch. Ah, he'd missed this stuff.  
  
Keian smiled a bit wistfully himself at his vanished freedom. "Currently Alysse is checking out a ship. Apparently I'll be working in the equivalent of the Merchant Marine, a Seagull Class Barge if that means anything to you. Ember and Cloudrunner are filling out paperwork."  
  
Ranma nodded. "Yeah, Seagull class. Ironstar built, fairly quick and maneuverable. They're usually used for bulk transport between here and Nihon. So they're getting you involved in work so that they can try to guide how the Rules affect you."  
  
"Mage, Engineer." Keian shrugged. "These skyjammer engines, with psionically or magically reactive crystals, sound interesting. And engineering at least is something I can do."  
  
"They're out 'bonding'," said Jared with a wince. "Probably shopping again."  
  
Keian blinked. "How'd you bring them here, anyway? I mean, Sjul..."  
  
"We got here by a different method, same with Ranma," Jared smirked and indicated the other mage by a jerk of a thumb. "Sjul uses the 'Dimensional Fisher' which is less a method of travel than summoning. And because those methods rely on underlying Chaos and dimensional instability, it doesn't matter how much tweaking with the equations she does, she'll *always* have problems with the effects."  
  
"It's one of those things about the Namerank mages, even the Diamondranks to some extent, the magic they're used to channeling has become so much a part of them that they're a little nuts about some things. Like Sjul's obsession with Greylle and attempts to find a suitable Analogue of his."  
  
Jared shuddered. "Then it's a good thing I'm leaving as soon as I can. By the Rules, I'd qualify as a Diamondrank."  
  
Keian smiled, always willing to play Devil's Advocate. "And how do you know you are not already being affected? After all, I doubt Sjul thinks her actions are unreasonable."  
  
"Not to mention that legally now, most of those 'Scouts' are now Amazons. Wanna bet their genetic structure would alter to conform?" Ranma shrugged. Having grown up here, he didn't think anything special about Amazons or nymphs. It was Japan that had struck him as bizarre.  
  
Jared found an excuse to leave. Quickly. Sure, a Polymorph Other to change them back to being human *might* work. But why take chances?  
  
"By the way, what happened to him? He looked like he'd just run a marathon." Keian had noticed that the Mage had looked even more tired than he had a few hours earlier.  
  
"He got directions to the Goblin Reaches. Threw a few fireballs and magic missiles when he found a war party. Toasted most of the goblins, then discovered that some of the goblins had magic or psionics or both. I think it's in the Rules, something along the lines of 'Those who go looking for trouble, will find it, in direct relation to their own capacity.' One of the reasons that the higher rank mages and the like tend to stay home."  
  
------------  
  
Nabiki woke up and found herself in unfamiliar surroundings. ~This is getting old really quick.~ An odd cabin with wooden beams and fabric inner walls.  
  
Garr said something incomprehensible, putting down a book.   
  
"What was that? I didn't understand you." Nabiki wasn't even sure the odd sing-song had even been a language.  
  
More garbling, followed by Garr giving her a "wait here" gesture and leaving the cabin. Nabiki of course, stepped out of the cabin, and looked down over the railing.  
  
There were at least three layers of clouds between her and the ocean below.  
  
"How's this? Can you understand me now?"  
  
Nabiki turned and Garr was holding one of those translator pendants. "Yeah, uhm, what happened?"  
  
Garr regarded her for a moment. "You're Nabiki Tendo?"  
  
Nabiki noted that the male Delphins looked tired and sad. "Yeahhhh."  
  
"You were poisoned. Lethe arrow. I got you to the nearest cleric. Unfortunately, the nearest group of Healers I knew of were at the Finish Line."  
  
Nabiki gasped and checked her hands. There was a ring. On THAT finger. Three bands of metal united as one by a thread made of some reddish metal. A quick check revealed a similar band on Garr's ring finger. She considered fainting.  
  
"It isn't often that a guy drags a girl over the finish line, though I kinda had to get help. Then there was that weird cat."  
  
Nabiki's attention was wrenched up from the ring by this. "You implying I'm heavy."  
  
Garr stared for a moment. "Nabiki. You *were* on the route to becoming an *oriad*, an earth nymph. They *look* kind of like human women, but they're like dwarves in that they're heavier than they look. Things changed though. You sacrificed yourself to save me."  
  
Nabiki opened her mouth to protest that it hadn't been her intention to sacrifice herself for any reason. She had just acted and wasn't entirely sure why or why things had turned out the way they had.   
  
"Now, well, look at yourself."  
  
Nabiki did, noting that she was dressed again, this time in braies and tunic. A green that set off the copper of her skin. The sort-of-gold had turned more coppery. The hand looked different too. The fingers were longer and more tapered. "What? What am I?"  
  
Garr shook his head. "There were hakima present. How you hit the Rules for *that* I'd like to know, but you're a dragon."  
  
"Oh, well that isn't so bad then," Nabiki sighed thankful she wasn't going to turn into one of those overly pneumatic teenagers. Wait a minute? "SAY WHAT?!"  
  
------------------  
  
Keian exited the tavern and saw something unexpected. It was a tribute to his mental endurance and adaptibility that after a mere week in Aramar that it phased him as little as it did.  
  
Twelve foot long crystalline ants were not high on the list of things he had *expected* to see that day.   
  
"Uhm, so you must be one of the Mu?"  
  
*We are the Mu. You are the Keian.*  
  
"Gag, it's the Borg."  
  
*Reference unknown.*  
  
"It was a joke," said Keian rubbing his forehead.  
  
Ranma stepped up behind him. "The Mu don't understand individuality, much less things like humor."  
  
"Oh yeah, telepathic hive," Keian mumbled as he considered the creature. Once you looked at it a number of differences between an ant and a Mu (besides the size and glass sculpture resemblence) became apparent. "I remember Alysse mentioned them but no details."  
  
*Keian unit observing. Wild talent at threshold.*  
  
"Wild talent?" Keian scratched his head, wondering what that was about.  
  
"All humans in Aramar have a 'wild talent' - something about coming from universes with low magic to ones where it practically flows like water. Ya either sink or swim, if you sink the magic's changed you to something other than human. If you swim, you retain your humanity but you develop the talent. The Emperor's got luck, for him whatever can go right will. Ryune is a natural translator, if it's written he can decipher it. Jose's got a sort of combat sense."  
  
"And you?"  
  
"Me?" Ranma grinned and spread his hands. "Hey, I'm the best there is at the Art."  
  
Keian allowed himself a smirk. "Of course. At least some things are eternal. Hey, wait a minute, these Mu don't come to witness *everyone* develop a wild talent, do they?"  
  
"I don't think so."  
  
*Answer: negative. Keian unit high potential. Universe of origin particularly low in magical energies. Potential equivelant of Emperor's luck factor. New arrivals worthy of closer examination.*  
  
"Huh?" Keian said as that penetrated. A concept occurred to him, that each Mu was the equivelant of a server - each having considerable processing power on its own, but all were inextricably linked in an Internet connection. Each unit contributing its own psionic potential and all part of the same Hivemind. "No wonder the Emperor values the Mu so much."  
  
"Hmmmm?" Ranma gave his colleague a side-glance. "He values them because they can stand against the Boskone and erect Inertial Barriers hundreds of miles long. Among other things. They can't do magic, but psionics are as natural to them as hands are to us."  
  
Creatures that couldn't understand human nature and were that powerful, and they were interested in him. Keian wasn't thrilled with this. "oh my."  
  
Ranma snickered. "I'll trade you. I've still got to go through my Ordeal for Sapphirerank."  
  
------------------  
  
"She's coming to," said a voice.  
  
Shampoo groaned and wished people would lay off the double entendres. Before opening her eyes she started categorizing her awareness of the environment, as there had been enemies present last time she had been conscious.  
  
A cool breeze, fairly strong, with a definite sea tang to it. The peculiar thrum she'd noticed in her brief experience with skyjammers before. A feeling as if she'd been imbedded into the ground by some colossal weight, only to be pried up out of it later. She also appeared to be tied to some rough surface.  
  
"Geez, I thought humans recovered faster than this."  
  
Shampoo let her eyes flutter open. She discovered that she was tied to the prow of a ship that was barely twenty feet above the surface of the water and going about 45mph. "Aaaaaaaa!"  
  
"I expected better from a human Amazon."  
  
"What am I doing here?!" Shampoo noticed the ship was now slowly approaching the water.  
  
"You're going to Boot Camp, of course!" The Amazon who had been speaking leaned over the railing enough for Shampoo to see a glimpse of blonde hair and blue eyes. "Didn't want you to drown so we waited for you to wake up before we start skimming the waves at high speed."  
  
"WHAT?!" Shampoo stared as the water came closer, with droplets splashing her repeatedly. "Where are my clothes? What kind of stupid training is this?! Why (glug) (gurgle) (cough)"  
  
"Endurance training, toughness, and higher pain threshold." The Amazon disappeared back over the railing. "Okay, hold her steady and start increasing the speed till we get to max."  
  
There were a few Amazons protesting the gentle treatment of the Outsider. It was pointed out by others that just because the Chinese girl had a husband, that was no reason to get jealous. Besides, did any of *them* want to explain to her betrothed how she'd been injured?  
  
Shampoo blinked. A husband? She caught Ranma after all? Another splash caught her.  
  
--------------  
  
NAME: Jared Saotome  
OCCUPATION: Hero/Planewalker, currently involved in a Quest (major) of Good Vs Evil on his homeplane.  
CLASS/LEVEL: Mage (Generalist) 25; Cleric of Gaia (Druid)17; Martial Artist (kensai) 19; Psionicist (Psychometabolist, Telekinetic, Senpsi) 9, Veritech pilot 14  
RACE: Demigod  
KNOWN ABILITIES: Shapechanging, control of fire, immunity to fire, Tongues, supernatural physical endurance and healing factor, aura of command, spells and psionic use.   
SUSPECTED BUT UNCONFIRMED: Child of Sif of the Norse pantheon when Loki impersonated her husband one night as part of a trick. The boy was smuggled off to the mortal planes until such time as Sif could assure her illegitimate child would be safe again in Valhalla.  
  
Mina blinked and looked up at the Amazon who had handed her the pamphlet. "No wonder there were so many girls after Jay-chan!"  
  
Myn nodded. "Heck, he was even considered a better catch than Ranma. Of course, you read that bit on page two about him being involved in a 'war of Good Versus Evil against desperate odds'? Heroes of *all* ages wanted a piece of that. Especially the Amazons, do you know why?"  
  
Mina nodded. "It's a fight, and it's a good cause."  
  
Myn grinned at her Analogue. "Exactly. You understand our ways quite well."  
  
Mina grinned back only to let out a startled noise as the pamphlet was snatched from her hands.  
  
"Psionicist?! When did I become an esper?! And Loki is my BROTHER not my father! Gee, they..." Jared stopped as he noticed that he had become the center of an old EF Hutton commercial. Everyone was staring at him. "Errr. Would you believe Loki was a nickname?"  
  
Everyone present slowly shook their head from side to side in an eerie synchronization.  
  
"What's a 'senpsi' anyway?" Mina decided to break the uncomfortable silence.  
  
"A psionicist is a person who manipulates the powers of their mind and body rather than a mage who manipulates magical energies. A senpsi is a psionicist who uses the martial arts to increase the flow of energies within their body and use those arts to discipline mind and spirit and body and forge all into a weapon." Myn smiled and regarded the Pheonix Mage speculatively.  
  
Jared frowned. In the AD&D terms he was familiar with, a psionicist used 'psionic strength points' but it *sounded* like the Amazon was talking about chi mastery. "Well, anyway Mina, we really need to get going."  
  
"Great, I'll get Tarre and the others!" Mina sparkled as she went to get the other new allies.  
  
"Tarre? Others? Oh boy..." Jared suppressed the desire to flee back to his plane immediately. The fight against the Dark Kingdom was beginning to look rather more attractive than staying here any longer.   
  
-------------------  
  
Genma stretched his considerable bulk up further, straining as he did so.  
  
Religion was a sop for the masses. A weakness. He was strong. Nothing was sacred save the Art itself.  
  
Big metal idols with a ruby eye, therefore, were fair game.  
  
The gemstone wouldn't come out to his questing hand, and so Genma used a prybar taken from the shipping docks in the working section of the Temple. He smiled as the prybar found enough purchase that the prize flipped out into his eager hand. Now all he had to was sneak past those idiots who would allow their idol to be unguarded.  
  
*INFIDEL!*   
  
Genma leapt and ran as the voice (sounding rather like James Earl Jones growling with an odd echo effect) roared.   
  
The doors that had parted so easily before, now showed every sign of being welded shut. Genma tugged on them a couple of times before motion behind him caused him to drop the ruby and clutch the prybar a little tighter. (Which showed how rattled he was as he'd meant to clutch the ruby and drop the prybar.)  
  
The one-eyed serpent of greenish stone was bleeding from the eyesocket. That socket blinked and the ruby vanished from the floor to reappear where it belonged. Changing slightly to become a red-hued eye a moment later.  
  
"AH! Have mercy on a harmless old man! I didn't mean anything by it!"  
  
*Silence, fool. You intended to rob this temple of scrolls and anything else you could pry loose. The question is not of your guilt, but how much to make you suffer.*  
  
"But I'm a father and my family... I mean I've got a son and daughter who depend upon me... I mean what about..." Genma started babbling while looking for a way out. Genma felt a sensation as if someone was rummaging around in his head.  
  
*You have not adapted to the Rules either. How interesting. And you've already sold your son to the Amazons, and your daughter to the dwarves. Oh, wait, that was your drinking partner that sold his youngest daughter off. How... interesting.*  
  
Genma noted the window to the chapel was too narrow for his bulk, the door was welded shut, and that the jade serpent was well over three tons and quite capable of swallowing him whole. Worse, those fangs looked like the kind that injected venom. Time for the Saotome Special Manuever: Crouch Of The Wild Tiger.  
  
"Please, you've already taken your eye back. I didn't know it actually belonged to anyone. I'm just an old man, and I'm not in good shape. I'm sure I'd taste horrible..."  
  
The serpent let Genma rattle on for another five minutes before interrupting him. *ENOUGH! Having to spend time with you is punishing me, and as a magical guardian that is an intolerable state of affairs. And as you are truly ignorant of the world and its ways, I shall let you go.*  
  
"Oh thankyouthankyouthankyou." Bowing and scraping, it worked all the time.  
  
*But as you are not repentant, a punishment is still necessary. Perhaps losing an arm or a leg? Your wagging tongue? Perhaps turning you into a cockroach or similar vermin?*  
  
"Ah, well..." Genma thought quickly. It had thought the selling part was interesting? Maybe... "I have a daughter!"  
  
*Eh? Midori Saotome, yes, I saw the child in your memory.*  
  
"I'll sell her to you, she'd be much tastier than I would be." Genma smirked inwardly, after all he could always steal her back.  
  
*Raise your right hand. Swear the oath that appears in your heart.*  
  
Genma raised his right hand. He swore the oath, never intending to honor the thing.  
  
A flash of magic and rumble of thunder punctuated the end of the oath.  
  
*So it is done. You may go, but know that I or my servants will come for the child soon.*  
  
"Not a problem..." Genma's voice trailed off as the Temple faded around him and he reappeared in town, hours away from where he'd been. "Oh my."  
  
"GENMA! HELP!" Soun came running up to grab Genma's gi collar. "For the love of all we hold dear, Genma, HIDE ME!"  
  
Genma tried to take a step back in alarm. Soun looked nearly as frightened as if the Master had suddenly shown up. "What's the problem, Soun? It couldn't be that bad."  
  
"You have no idea, do you?" Soun shuddered. "I was trapped inside a clay statue for hours, and then THEY caught me!"  
  
"What do you mean 'they' caught you?" Genma wanted a good idea of who they were running from before he decided on which direction.  
  
"Saotome, they *married* me!" Soun began shaking. "It was all so confusing and it happened so fast, and the sake was pouring like water."  
  
"You've married again, Tendo? Congratulations." Genma's smile faltered. "Waitaminute. 'They' as in plural?"  
  
"THERE HE IS!"   
  
Soun fled.  
  
Genma watched as four women, err, females gave chase. One had fur and a tail. The one riding some big bird had gills and blue skin. One was four feet tall at most, with pointed ears and a shock of red hair. She seemed to linger near Genma for a moment before racing off after her partners. The last one in the procession flew along on a *broomstick.*  
  
Genma sweatdropped. Profusely. Then was grateful that nothing bad had happened to him, yet.  
  
---------------  
  
"Are you OK, Midori?"  
  
Midori shook her head before smiling at the Amazon. "Just had a chill."  
  
Senbei shrugged slightly and dove down through the clouds, her telekinetic field causing a sort of splash effect when she emerged on the other side.  
  
"Aw, c'mon, it's just a chill," Midori protested from where she was being carried.   
  
"It might be nothing, or it might be a Seeming," declared the senpsi. "This world can be dangerous, Little Flower, and I would rather not see you risked."  
  
Midori got a sly expression on her face. "Well, then, you ought to teach me this chi stuff, shouldn't you? Just to put me at *less* risk?"  
  
"That is up to your mother." Senbei struggled over the unfamiliar word briefly as she considered the eight year old's words. "If she permits, then it *might* be possible."  
  
Midori hid her grin. Being able to do that Project Force thing and throw chi blasts, fly, harden your skin, and all the other tricks the senpsi had. How could a true martial artist (such as herself) *not* want to learn this stuff? Besides, if she could teleport then she could get away from her father whenever he was being a putz.  
  
The youngest Tendo thought that she'd found her niche.  
  
-------------------  
  
Nodoka watched from the square as her daughter flew about, being carried by that nice young martial artist Amazon.  
  
"So, Saotome-san, have you considered the possibility?"  
  
Nodoka tore her eyes away in order to regard the Elder in front of her. "I have. And I think you're quite correct. Genma selling Ranma while bar hopping does not sound like the sort of behavior I want my daughter learning."  
  
Elder Hibari sipped on her tea briefly. "Fortunately we were keeping an eye on the two. We *persuaded* the demonologist and the necromancer to surrender their contracts. Otherwise the Tendo baby and your young daughter there..."  
  
"Why are such people tolerated in your Empire?" asked Nodoka, deciding to focus on something besides the antics of her husband and his friend.  
  
"Because, Saotome-san, this isn't a perfect society, but it *is* stable and unifies a lot of different people. Thereby putting risks down into acceptable parameters for the most part." Hibari set the cup down to regard the human woman. "Demonologists, black sorcerers, necromancers, even a few beings thought of as monsters elsewhere, all live together in a cooperative environment.  
  
"Demonologists are clerics of Surtag, embodying one of the nine major philosophies. Their contract for the youngest Tendo was pre-empted by the one the dwarves had made anyway. All it took was a word to the right dwarves and they are now guarding the child. A sensible precaution, all things considered, but the dwarves are generally a sensible people. By taking Aka-chan to their warrens to raise her, they assure the child of a stable home life and protection from various forces that see her as a reborn Scarlet.  
  
"Necromancers raising skeletons and zombies commonly use contracts such as that. A few gold now, they get your body later. Upon the death (sometimes premature) of the contracted individual, the necromancer has a new servitor. The necromancers frequently find use in the garbage heaps and in sewer work. Anything simple that sensible folk aren't happy doing. They are tolerated, if most people would rather not associate with them.  
  
"As for the monsters, the usual attitude is that if you obey the laws and aren't offensive, you're tolerated here. Hence the presence of the occasional vampire, hobgoblin, vyort, or ravener. Some have even managed to become accepted though they have a harder row to hoe than, say, an orahm or an Amazon."  
  
"I see..." Nodoka agreed, sweatdropping a bit as three thri-kreen (mantis-like centauroids) walked by their table. "And you say that you could provide a safe environment for Midori."  
  
The Elder looked flatly at Nodoka. "No. I did not say that at all."  
  
Nodoka waited until the waitress, or waiter, she wasn't quite sure what the large mound of fur was much less its gender, had refilled her cup before raising an eyebrow at Hibari. "Exactly what then are you offering?"  
  
"Relative safety. It isn't unheard of for someone of another race to be adopted into a House. You gain many things. Stability and a home, family and community, training for your daughter and yourself if you like, protection from that which we *can* protect against, guidance from some of the worse dangers of this world. True safety? I will not promise anything I cannot deliver."  
  
Nodoka smiled and set her cup down. "That being an honest answer, it is one that I will accept. House Rising Sun it is."  
  
"The only problem is that you'll probably never see your husband again," Hibari offered.  
  
"This is a problem?"  
  
------------------  
  
Jared finally stood before the menhir ring and watched as those from his universe returned to that universe, ready to once more take up the battle against Evil.  
  
"Okay, kitty cat. Come out now."  
  
A shadow detatched itself. It wasn't the one he had expected.  
  
"I'm not sure why you call me 'kitty cat' Mage, but my compliments on seeing through my   
'Shroud Of Stealth' spell. Not many could."  
  
"Lijra Diamondrank, isn't it?" Jared stared at the ardrow. Black skin, white hair, yellow eyes. Sensuous and attractive if you could get over the coloration. Not that unlike any number of drow women out of certain underground cities on Toril. Dressed in a simple housedress and blouse, with a parasol perched jauntily over one shoulder. "Ranma's adoptive mother here, magic specialty is the enchantment of seemingly ordinary household items."  
  
She inclined her head towards the planewalker. "Pheonix Mage, Jared Saotome. Twenty six hours, thirty seven minutes remaining before coming under the Rules for Diamondrank status. Specialty in flashy heroics and unintentionally wooing young maidens."  
  
Jared laughed nervously and briefly. "It's not my fault." He idly noted the ardrow wasn't casting a shadow. "Projected image?"  
  
"Diamondranks and Nameranks tend to not move around much," she confided. "Adventures tend to come calling and one of the Rules is that an adventure will always produce opponents of sufficient strength to challenge the quester. At my level, that could be a problem for the common folk around me."  
  
Jared's magical senses finished penetrating the shifting cloak of spells to "read" the individual within. Kindness and compassion were the primary traits of this darkskinned elf, like some negative photo image of Belldandy. Love and pride in her son. An echo of sadness deep below it all. "And to what do I owe this visit?"  
  
"Genma Saotome has just sold his son Ranma to House Southern Cross of the Amazons. He has also sold his daughter Midori to a guardian spirit of the Silver Temple."  
  
Jared spent a few moments explaining, in great detail, a multiple layered curse which would bind a night hag to Genma Saotome to torment him for what would likely be a very short life.  
  
"His wife, on the other hand, has just been adopted into House Rising Sun. His daughter too. As such, he no longer has any claim to either." Lijra seemed to study something out of the projection field. "Also, you needn't wait for the one named Nabiki. She has come under the Rules for a copper dragon and will be spending a considerable amount of time exploring the new options before her as well as learning how to use her new trueform."  
  
"A dragon? How..." Jared blinked picturing a gleaming dragon coiled around her hoard counting yen and being the typical mischievous and greedy dragon of that type. "How appropriate. That still doesn't tell me why you chose to observe my leaving this world."  
  
"Perhaps, it was not *you* that I was primarily concerned with," was the quiet comment.  
  
Jared blinked. "How did Scarlet intersect your life?"  
  
The sadness showed itself plainly for a moment on the archmage's face. "Almost two hundred years ago, fifty years before Scarlet vanished from this world, a young member of the City Watch attempted to stop a figure seen flitting along the rooftops of Port Shadar. His name was Abrahim, a human planewalker much like the Emperor. He died, slain by a technique of the Black Rose assassins known as the Quivering Palm."  
  
"Your husband," said Jared. It was not a question.  
  
"I was ready to cast a Seekerspell and link it to Conflagration. To take the whole of my being and use the force of the spell to turn her into less than ash." Lijra looked off into the distance. "But that would have been against the very law my Abrahim served and died for. Instead I continued to monitor Scarlet, known to the goblinkin as the Pale Lady, in case she ever returned to the Empire. Fifty years later, the pattern changed. Scarlet was there, and she was not. Eventually that pattern shifted too, and Scarlet became just another legendary figure like the Broken Man and Kiera Kinslayer."  
  
"And then a human, like your long-dead husband arrived, a child. One who spoke often of an Art that he would master, and you adopted the child as your own."  
  
"Ranma Saotome," agreed Lijra. "Do not worry about Genma Saotome or those you leave behind, godling."  
  
Jared winced at the title. "Not the godling. Just a guy who's got a few extra classes under his belt."  
  
"Superspy adventurer, mage, martial artist, monk, druid, do you even know yourself? Nonetheless, man of many talents, know that you are welcome here in the unlikely event that you can find your way here again."  
  
Jared shook his head. "I know the ways are difficult to navigate save for a native, but that's my..." Jared paled. Wild talents were something that native humans had. How close was he to adapting to the Rules? Without another word he ducked within the Worldgate and vanished.  
  
-----------------  
  
Kasumi stood behind Megumi and held onto the Amazon's waist tightly. Not that she was frightened, but she found this method of travel to be both new and exciting.  
  
The potential for falling, though, worried her a bit.  
  
Megumi stood on the disc of amber energies and directed the course and speed with gentle movement of her hands.   
  
Kasumi estimated their current altitude as about 7,000 feet and speed in excess of 90mph.  
  
Behind them, on a ship as her own shakti was incapable of those speeds, Princess Usagi was arguing with another co-wife about who should accompany Ranma to learn what his Ordeal would be like. Naturally, the paladin felt that *she* should be the one.  
  
A wave of displaced air pulled Kasumi's attention to her "teacher" pulling alongside them. It had been *his* suggestion that Kasumi take a break from her new studies. Kasumi was having a little trouble with reconciling the usual appearance of silver-haired elf with his trueform.  
  
Some accounts placed Frostbite's age as 700 years or older. Whatever the truth, he was classed a "mature adult" by the standards of dragonkind. Kasumi thought he was pretty.  
  
Eighty feet long, including the tail which had obviously been bitten short sometime in the past. His gleaming skin was covered with such fine scales that one had to look close to dispel the image of a living sculpture of silver.   
  
Kasumi had sliced her hand open examining those scales earlier, and had been shocked and surprised when she found herself muttering a few words of magic in response. It had been her almost instinctive casting of the Cure Light Wounds that had prompted the dragon-priest to declare a break in the studies.  
  
"Look," Megumi yelled over the wind, breaking Kasumi's reverie. "Here comes the mail."  
  
Kasumi looked in the indicated direction and made out a form diving from far above their altitude to go swooping towards the port area. "Is that another silver dragon?"  
  
"That's Celsius, a mercury dragon. She was raised by a member of the Imperial staff. Her hoard is one of those guarded by the Emperor in a castle vault specifically designed for that purpose." Megumi pointed at where Celsius had just looped the field twice. "She mainly does courier duty between Cross Isle and Shadar Hi, and..."  
  
Kasumi began to tune Megumi out as she went on about the dragon's rumored exploits hunting for some thrills in aerobatics and an unrequited love with another dragon of the same breed in the mountains of the other landmass.  
  
She was worried about Ranma's Ordeal. The rumors concerning THAT had been dark and fearsome. Also mainly contradictory.  
  
Kasumi just held tight to Megumi's waist and let the other girl pilot for now. There was much to worry about, including whatever was going on with Akane right now.  
  
-------------------  
  
Ranma shook his head as he looked over the engine and started explaining the odd device in more detail to Keian. It helped take his mind off the Ordeal looming up before him.  
  
"These pink crystals," Ranma indicated the outer slats fixed in a cage around the central shaft, "have a sort of charge to them. They convert movement of this outer cage to movement of the ship, magnified by the amplifier crystal there at the end of the shaft."  
  
"That's the purple one?" Keian nodded. "And the central shaft has a different charge that pushes against the slats. This control changes the angle of the slots, this brakes the outer wheel, and this changes the angle of the cage itself."  
  
"And that is the basics of skyjammer control." Ranma nodded at the less experienced mage. "It's enough for you to be able to handle basic operation, though you need to pass a proficiency test for dockings and takeoffs within major traffic areas. There's also a modified spelljammer helm for backups, but as that drains your spell ability and requires an experienced mage, it's generally avoided."  
  
"No version for psionics?"  
  
"Of course there is, but as you've decided to study magic, you'll eventually become a mage. Psionics and magic are a rare combination." Ranma examined the pivots.  
  
"If I can get ball bearings worked out..." Keian eyed the worn copper joins and greased rings. He'd spotted a half dozen uses just for something simple like ball bearings. The big cities had a form of internal plumbing, but it could be improved hundreds of ways.  
  
Ranma listened to the other human for awhile, detailing plans and ideas and innovations. He wondered idly if this was Keian's wild talent.  
  
"So how many girls did you end up marrying?"  
  
Ranma winced. "Six.In three hours we have our first get together. Sixteen hours after that I report to the Castle where the Mage's High Council give me my Ordeal."  
  
"Damn. I only got three wives, and I'm expecting that to be an Ordeal all its own." Keian chuckled until he heard a throat being cleared that did not sound like Ranma's. "Oops. They're still on board, aren't they?"  
  
----------------  
  
Shampoo was cut from the prow of the ship, and the living figurehead gradually peeled from her position to land with a 'splut' noise in the practiceyard.  
  
The drill sergeant, a massive Amazon who had a touch of dwarf ancestry, looked over the crumpled heap in the sand and expressed her hopes that the purple haired girl hadn't been discomforted by the beginning of training.   
  
"WHAT?! Look at this! You expect me to turn *this* into a warrior?! What a pathetic lump! I thought I was going to have some sort of human Amazon to train! This?! This is nothing, this isn't worth anything! This... is unconscious." The drill sergeant threw the fainted Amazon over her shoulder. "Damn, all that vitriol for nothing."  
  
"Maybe we should have avoided the ice fields," suggested Mika.  
  
"Maybe we shouldn't have cut across the volcano," speculated Miya.  
  
"Maybe we shouldn't have spent all that time in the water fighting the giant squid?" Mita asked in a quiet voice.  
  
There was a moment of quiet. "NAH!" All three Amazons exclaimed at the concept.  
  
"Can't show favoritism," said Mika with a nod.  
  
"Ranma's always said that a human is the equal of an Amazon," said Miya as she took a stance similar to Mika. "Height and relative armor value notwithstanding."  
  
"Hasn't he been proving himself wrong on that count before? Errr, I mean, we can't let someone slide just because she's acting like a member of the weaker sex, right?" Mita tried to adopt the same pose as the other two Amazons.  
  
Tiramisu walked by. "Oh, and who is going to explain to a certain priestess of Etragar that her Amazon sister *failed* Boot Camp because you expected her to be able to keep up with a Delphins? Who is going to explain to a certain DRAGON..."  
  
Miya, Mika, and Mita considered this with little sweatdrops forming.  
  
"Okay, maybe," allowed Miya.  
  
"maybe we could like..." Mika remembered hearing about the *last* time a really powerful dragon had taken a human mate (a temporary infatuation, the human only lived for sixty years) and that mate had been put into danger. Mika winced, heavily.  
  
"...see if she's OK?" Mita said hopefully.  
  
Three young Amazons ran for the infirmary.  
  
"Kids," rumbled Tiramisu. Then shrugged. She had been young once herself.  
  
-----------------------  
  
Kasumi considered her "co-wives" and wondered why she wasn't more upset. Perhaps it was just that she was going with the flow, or perhaps it was finding that she genuinely liked these other girls.  
  
Megumi was a Knight Arcane, one of the select holy warriors of the Silver Temple. As it appeared that Kasumi was to become a Healer, Megumi had appointed herself Kasumi's Warder. Healers did not fight, generally, it was the duty of the Warder to protect the Healer though often the reputation of the Healers was enough. An Amazon, so she was taller by a few inches than Kasumi, and much stronger. Samurai and a warleader who had led troops into battle against inhuman monsters prior to earning her shakti.  
  
Megumi had apparently met and worked with Ranma aboard a few ships over the years and had kept her eye on the mage. Megumi had kept to the Emperor's hands off policy and hadn't approached Ranma, though she had stuttered and blushed when Kasumi had asked how closely the samurai had watched Ranma.  
  
Usagi was a princess! A bit clumsy, a bit nieve, a bit overenthusiastic about going out to find evil to vanquish, but a nice girl. She was also a Knight Arcane, though Megumi was more defense oriented and Usagi more into the smiting kind of thing. She was at least half-Amazon, and was a paladin (Kasumi still wasn't quite sure what that meant) of the Steel Temple. Usagi wanted to be First Wife, but backed off upon finding out that Kasumi was to be a Healer. Right now there was an argument between Usagi and Megumi (going on fairly loudly from the sound of it) about who was to be Kasumi's Warder.  
  
Usagi had known Ranma less than Megumi. She had only worked with Ranma once, aboard the Amazon ship "Keshi No Hana" but felt that she had staked her claim and that was it. Apparently Ranma had rescued her once when she'd gotten in over her head and the girl had fantasized about him ever since.  
  
Kasumi envied the two Amazons. They could be open in their interest and affection towards Ranma, where Kasumi felt constrained by the standards of her previous society.   
  
Then there was... Kaera. Kasumi wasn't quite sure of what to make of the kirrfolk, or how she was supposed to act around her. Amazons looked human, or at least mostly. Other than height and a few other details. Frostbite took a near-human form and it was easy for Kasumi to think of him as that form, even though the others had informed her that the huge dragon was actually his real form. Thurin, that dwarf, was kind of like a short human. She'd seen nymphs and winged elves and they *mostly* looked human.  
  
Kaera was... well... she was likable. But she wasn't human, nor likely to be mistaken for one except at a distance. Even a dozen yards away, Kasumi thought she could have thought of the kirrfolk policegirl as a human in an alien costume. The closer one got, though, the less chance that illusion would last. The soft fur (white along the front, orange-gold nearly everwhere else) covering the scantily clad catwoman might be dismissed as a costume. The expressively moving tail was another story. The slight muzzle grinned to show a set of teeth that could have been human, but that fit that muzzle too well for a mask. The nose, almost always twitching, just below two odd green eyes that seemed to mix human and feline features. The joints were also wrong, but you had to see how fluidly she moved to see how different she must be put together.  
  
Kaera was a kirrfolk, which Frostbite had explained to her as being of a race originally engineered from human, cheetah, and leopard genes as a race of slaves. They had won their freedom in the ogrii revolt. Kaera's view was that this was all untrue, and the kirrfolk were a group of humans who fought the Elven Empire's genocide by being tranformed by great magic into a warrior race that could stand against the elves.  
  
She had fingers like a human, but the tips terminated in retractile claws. Her ears stuck out slightly and moved like a cat's to catch every sound. She was nice and kind and playful. And she scared Kasumi simply by being what she was. Alien.  
  
Aura, frequently arguing with Usagi and/or Megumi, was also quite alien but concealed it better. One could see her in human form and forget that this wasn't some blue-eyed California girl and could readily believe she was Usagi's half-sister.  
  
Then she'd change, her form flowing like water. And what replaced the "California girl" was as alien as Kaera. As a half-dragon, her dragonform was as real as her human form. Instead of mixing, the two were both her real form and she switched easily from one to the other though it was apparently tiring in some manner. Her dragonform, Kasumi was told in whispered aside, was a bit of a runt. Roughly half the size of a true dragon her age, and only able to breathe flame without using the dragonspell of Change Breath Weapon.  
  
It was curious that her physical strength and grace were abyssmal in human form, while her endurance and self-control suffered as a dragon. The opposite was also true, and Kasumi had watched the graceful and quick dragon turn into a human who could trip over her own shadow.   
  
  
Then there was the final member of the six. With two of the wives being Princesses, it wasn't that difficult to believe the sixth member of their group would be odd even by the standards of the rest of the group.  
  
Kasumi the Healer, Megumi the Samurai, Princess Aura the Dragon, Princess Usagi the Holy Warrior, Kaera the catgirl Ranger, and then there was Riverdance.   
  
A nymph of water, what they called a naiad. A girl with pale blue-green skin that felt slick and soft. She had been eyeing the other wives rather hungrily, which tended to put everyone else a bit off. Her appearance also tended to throw people off. Some naiads grew hair on their scalp but like all nymphs was hairless everywhere else. Riverdance had no hair other than her eyelashes.   
  
Hair wasn't the only thing Riverdance was missing. Restraint was another thing clearly missing from the nymph (not that many nymphs had much of this quality at all). Megumi had reported that she had attempted to bathe and then noticed the water moving on its own. Not the most auspicious of omens.  
  
  
-----------------  
  
Halflings: a term for the various races that are "half the height of an elf" (actually they are four feet in height at maximum, but the name has been in use for Ages) but bigger than a pixie (1.5ft) found on Aramar. They are otherwise unrelated. Most were genetically engineered hybrids from human and animal stock in the First Age, but a few have come from offplane during the Age Of Planar Exploration (Sixth Age of Man).  
Burrowers: halflings that look like pudgy badgerfolk, usually just under three feet in height. They have heavy foreclaws and bristly coats. Burrowers are fastidious underground dwellers who prefer low light levels and are notoriously shortsighted. It is not unusual to find them dwelling near dwarven settlements, as the burrowers lack the manual dexterity to be skilled craftsmen, while the dwarves generally prefer not to be farmers. They eat mainly plants, though they are also fond of various types of insects.  
Orahm: averaging 2 1/2 feet in height to just over three feet, these furred halflings are apelike in appearance. Strong, with oversized arms in relation to their body, as well as foot-hands which are prehensile if not as dextrous as their other hands. Orahm pursue a single calling in life, usually a trade such as forestry or engineering, and become monomaniacally consumed with the pursuit of that calling.   
Talf: A group that looks like the typical halfling of other worlds, except more in keeping with human/elven proportions. One of the problems with talf is the odd gender role within the species. If a male talf associates with an all male group regularly, the male talf begins a shift towards female. The reverse is also true. The shift takes two weeks and is described as being quite uncomfortable, often with extreme mood swings. Making it more complicated is that the male talf tend to be more dominant-aggressive, while the females tend to act more submissive. Forced into either a dominant or submissive role has also been known to trigger the shift. Female/male balances within the talf are normally 3:1. Other than this peculiar quirk, they tend to conform to what outsiders normally think of halfling society.  
Kenku: a falcon/human sort of hybrid halfling, normally very reclusive. Kenku tend not to get along with each other except for families, staking out territorial boundaries by instinct. All members of the race possess some limited telekinetic abilities, with some members possessing great psionic abilities. There are a few mages, and mage/psionicists, and clerics among their number as well.  
Decori: These halflings are aquatic in nature, called the "otterfolk" by some. Resembling sleek humanoid otters, they are playful and mischievous in nature. On the negative side, it is a rare decori who can keep attention on a single subject for more than a few minutes. They are often described as flighty or scatterbrained, though often goodnatured. Their main settlement is an extended set of partially-underwater caves and tunnels along the southern coast of Cross Isle. Three to four feet in height.  
Mouselings: Up until recently (Sixth Age) were known as the orra. Emperor Mannin Shades referred to them constantly as mouselings and the name came into wide usage. They look like humanoid mice, averaging three to four feet in height, often pudgy and mainly herbivores like the burrowers. They are extremely clean and neat and take pains about their appearance. Average close to four feet in height.  
  
  
=============================  
  
  
  
  
A Different Art, Chapter 8: Reunion  
gregg sharp  
  
Disclaimer: Not mine. Keian appears courtesy of Kevin W Patterson, Ranma 1/2 char by Takahashi. Aramar setting by me.  
  
  
  
Keian was grateful for the protection of Cloudrunner's "Resist Fire" spell as he looked into the raging column before him. With a motion he'd practiced on the way here, he caught a swirling bit of ash within the specially prepared box and waited for the next.  
  
With the Sundering, Aramar had ceased to be the Ninefold Worlds and had been rebuilt as a single world. With the Sundering, travel to and from the Nexus Plane had become difficult and full of twists and turns. The mechanism of magic had altered slightly too.  
  
Now the energies of paradimensional chaos were shaped and released by what they called Keytowers. Each of these was said to release a different kind of magic into the world. Transmutation magic was the Keytower to the southwest of Nihon, and on that island anything and everything except the tower itself changed from moment to moment due to the discharge.  
  
It had taken over a month, but Keian was now standing at the only other Keytower whose location was known to the Shadar Mage Corps. The Tower Of Fire as it was called.  
  
Flames twisted around Keian without touching him, but if he stepped forward another few feet the spell protecting him would evaporate like snowmelt in a hot furnace. Followed almost instantly by every molecule in his body dissolving under the heat.  
  
The force was channelled up as if through a cannon, and only trace leakage was responsible for the burned and blackened landscape and the thousand mile high pillar of flame.  
  
The Tower Of Change had the Mantaran Artifact within its bowels, forming the linkage between the pure energies of elemental chaos and the magic of transmutation. Somewhere below him, Keian knew, was an object of similar power tied to the element of fire.  
  
Keian left the inferno, deep in thought. Here was where some researchers came to observe the spells and energies directly, and thereby glean details of powerful fire spells and wards. That, of course, was why he had come. That and to catch a few bits of ash from where dust particles continually swirled in the inferno, clumping briefly, then disintegrating again. Except that if one personally caught three flecks of ash from the Tower, one could use them to enchant an anti-fire charm.  
  
He hadn't gone more than twenty yards from the flame when his familiar's presence loomed. This brought another smile to his face. Many things about Aramar reminded him of an old game he had once played, AD&D, but then the world would throw him a curve ball.  
  
One of those curve balls had been casting a "Find Familiar" spell. In AD&D, it was a random thing and one was likely to end up with a toad. In Aramar, one's inner nature was reflected in what kind of familiar one had. In AD&D, most beginning mages had a familiar while the higher power ones did not. In Aramar, a large number of mages of all ranks had familiars and one could guess what the mage was like by what their familiar was like. A big old friendly mutt was the familiar of the good-natured mage Kenimere. A razorcat was the familiar of Dagnabus the Easily Angered.  
  
The critter that looked like a winged tiger (except for it being only just under three feet in length) hissed uncomfortably at the heat. *Home?*  
  
"Yes, Tigger," Keian addressed his familiar. Not as intelligent as a person, about the level of a smart dog, but capable of mindlinking with him. To Tigger, home was the ship.  
  
Cloudrunner hovered nearby. "Did you get it?"  
  
"Three ashes from the Tower," Keian answered, holding the pillbox up.   
  
"Oh. Hey, do you know what day this is," the winged elf zipped around him, her expression playful.  
  
Keian nodded. "One year, two days ago, we were married. Which means that tomorrow Ranma finishes his Ordeal? Did you want to go see him?"  
  
Cloudrunner laughed. "We're more than a month out by skyjammer. The most powerful spell you've mastered so far is Phantom Steed. How would you suggest we get there?"  
  
Keian frowned. "We could try to get one of the researchers to teleport us, but I agree, it's probably not worth it."  
  
Cloudrunner picked up on his mood and landed lightly near him. "Regrets?"  
  
Keian sighed. "No, not really. I've seen so much in the past year. Those pillar-trees, as big as a skyscraper back home. The Dire Straits where Keira Kinslayer haunts the cliffs where she mistakenly slew the very family she'd tried to rescue. The Sky Islands and the Maelstrom, the hives of the Mu and the Dragonflight over Nihon. It's just that sometimes..."  
  
Cloudrunner slipped an arm around him, then a wing. "You miss your homeland."  
  
"Yeah," Keian brightened slightly. "Come to think of it, let's at least head back. It'll be interesting to see how Kasumi or some of the others are coping."  
  
--------------  
  
A small courtyard had been fashioned, and in the courtyard a ring of six pillars reached three elfheights to surround a simple pool of water.   
  
Kasumi finished her ablutions, drawing on the healing magic of her patron to store within her for future need. Finishing, she drew herself up and looked out over the Faerwood to observe the flash of lightning and dark clouds of a distant storm.  
  
"Be ready to get the linens in, Bartholomew," Kasumi advised in a quiet voice. "The storm will be here in 3 hours 27 minutes."  
  
The mouseling straightened from his concealment behind one of the pillars. It would not do to interrupt the Mistress' meditation after all. "As you will, milady. Still time to let them dry some. Mistress Aura reports a delegation of pixies from the wood will arrive sometime early this morning."  
  
"Oh dear, I hope they get here before the rain hits," Kasumi fretted slightly at the thought of the tiny winged faerie caught in the storm.  
  
"There is also an excellent chance of your sisters arriving, though I would expect them to wait until after the storm." Bartholomew bowed as best he could, having learned long ago some of the Lady Kasumi's native customs and adopting them. Or at least trying to. Having a barrel chest and spine that was not really as flexible as a human's made his bowing a bit awkward.  
  
"Make sure the dwarves have warning, you know how much they dislike surprises." Kasumi smiled at the little mouse-critter and tried to ignore the sudden urge to leap on a table and shriek the way she had when the butler/majordomo had first shown up in her kitchen. That hadn't gone over well in anyone's estimation but Thurin's, and the dwarf had complained later that he'd laughed himself sick.  
  
Bartholomew remembered the incident without any prompting. "Thurin is liable to accompany Aka-chan, milady. And... there has been a bit of bad news."  
  
"Yes?" Kasumi considered the storm for a moment. Much of Aramar was water, and most of it had the eternal noon effect. Storms tended to be massive affairs with quite a punch. She'd briefly wondered why have castles and towers, and why so many buildings were of mortared stone until she'd witnessed a full blown storm. Sturdy construction was definitely a good thing.  
  
"Word has just reached us by an Imperial Esper," Bartholomew didn't like to say "ninja" as he felt the word was unlucky, "the Emperor died in his sleep three days ago. There is talk about who is to be his successor. Princess Aura and Usagi left immediately on hearing the news."  
  
"Oh my, I'm so sorry." Kasumi had only met the Emperor once, which was once more than Ranma had, but Imperial audiences were actually fairly rare. Kasumi's impression had been that the Emperor was old and tired and probably trickier than a dwarven locksmith. "They'll miss Ranma's return, but I can't really blame them."  
  
Bartholomew nodded. "I'm told that Emeraldis has all but shut down for the mourning. Lady Megumi is off meeting your mother-in-law and sister-in-law to guide them in. Kaera is hunting, and relayed the message that she hopes you appreciate the gesture."  
  
Kasumi nodded happily. Kaera was kind, nice, and still scared Kasumi. Not because of how she acted, and Kasumi had gotten used to the exotic feline looks. But Kaera was, by instinct, a savage hunter who frequently ate raw meat that she had just chased down. Kaera couldn't handle large amounts of rice and many other typically Japanese (or Rising Sun) foods produced a reaction in the kirrfolk similar to Kasumi's reaction on seeing Kaera wipe the blood off her muzzle.  
  
There were a number of other activities that Kasumi's various co-wives did that she had trouble with. Everyone made allowances for different cultures and physiologies. Right now one of Kaera's kind little gestures had been to take one of her three day hunting trips to give the First Wife some quality time with their returning husband. Kasumi understood and appreciated this, and also understood that it probably wasn't the right time of month for Kaera to have that much interest in a male. Sexually at least. Otherwise, nice intentions or no, Kaera would scent her chosen mate and literally claw her way through intervening walls to be with him.  
  
She knew this because Kaera herself had cautioned her about this sort of thing. Followed by Megumi, followed by Usagi, followed by Aura. She had been duly warned. When Kaera got *that way* it would be best to get out of the way. Or, as kirrfolk could be uninhibited by Kasumi's standards, they'd be "having three for breakfast" as the elven saying went.  
  
"Bartholomew, relay my sympathies to the Court, and let everyone else know." Kasumi tried to think of what else she should do but drew a blank.  
  
"Yes, milady. May I then lower the Imperial Crest to halfmast?" Bartholomew pointed idly towards the Shadarian flag flying from the watchtower.   
  
"Yes, take care of the details, please." Kasumi nodded gratefully. If she gave Bartholomew free rein, he'd do everything that needed done. The little mouseling had been a gods-send in keeping the tower operating.  
  
Bartholomew merely bowed and went about his duties. A busy mouseling, after all, was a happy mouseling.  
  
-------------  
  
Nabiki stretched her wings just a little further as she caught a thermal, spiraling slowly up until the storm was three cloud-layers below her. On Earth, the air would have been too thin at this altitude for her to breathe, even as a dragon. Here, it was about her top altitude for flight unassisted by more than her inherent dragonmagic. She estimated it as about 120,000 feet.   
  
Nabiki was content, which might have surprised any number of her acquaintances back home. After all, she had been transformed into an inhuman monster sixteen feet in length that could transform back into human form through the magic of an armband. Yes, any number of people back home would think she was in a horrible situation.  
  
The new Nabiki Tendo would have called them idiots.  
  
She hadn't been thrilled with it to begin with herself. Especially as it became obvious that she needed to spend a *lot* of her time in her natural form. But gradually, she adapted and came to appreciate this form on its own merits.  
  
First off was sheer power. She could fly on her own power, shucking off the shackles of ground-based existence with her inherent magic and powerful wings. When she wanted to attack, glands along her throat could spew forth a powerful stream of acid or her own strong talons and bite could make quick work of many obstacles.  
  
Second was that once you got used to it, she considered the dragon form to have its own beauty. In the air she had practiced until she was as graceful and lithe as any serpent. Her body was largely a reddish brown, but the pebbly scales had a shiny copper tint to them along the outer edges.   
  
She was a copper dragon, and therefore felt more comfortable in dry climes and in mountain ranges than the areas she now flew over. Rolling around in hot sands and snoozing in the sun, these were natural pleasures that she had discovered in the past year. Now she had sympathy for those like her sister, stuck in a frail human form that wouldn't even last one tenth the lifespan she could look forward to.  
  
Finally she made out the valley. Like the much bigger Starfall, this valley was obviously an impact crater. Outer rim of mountains, almost circular valley, single large mountain in the middle. Nabiki's draconic mouth smirked in a manner that would have been instantly familiar to anyone who had known her when she had been human.  
  
Eyes keener than any human's read the air currents and the clouds and decided to stop on the highest of the peaks in the outer rim. The storm would then pass below her and she wouldn't have to get wet. She could catch a nap for an hour or six, then fly the rest of the way when the way was clear.  
  
Even though she had practiced flying for months, Nabiki knew it would take more than three hours of flight to make it safely to the rest area she had chosen. Copper dragon wings were less manueverable than the batlike wings of a bronze or silver, though they were better than the brass dragons. She also was not old enough or powerful enough to make use of the feng shui or any special abilities. Except, of course, to neutralize poisons - which had proven most useful after she had discovered how delicious a giant scorpion could be.  
  
Nabiki chuckled as she noticed a ship moving far below her. If she *could* teleport, she'd have appeared in human form on their decks and scared them. There was no way that they, mere mortals, would have noticed *her*.  
  
-------------  
  
"Ya think that's Nabiki-chan?" The eight year old shaded her eyes with one hand, pointing with the other.  
  
"Almost certainly, squirt!" Midori adjusted her clothing, wanting to look *just so* when meeting her brother's wife for the first time in eight months. Red hair brushed back into a ponytail, check. A green tunic that matched her eyes with the kanji for "Flower" (she was frequently called little flower due to her hair and tendency to wear bright clothing) in black embroidery inside a yellow sphere. Hose of a deeper green terminating in dark boots of an elven make. At her right hip was belted her backup weapon (her primary weapon being the Art), because a well dressed Amazon *always* had a weapon. In Midori's case, this was a simple pistol-style crossbow such as a number of Southern Cross Amazons favored. At her left hip a pouch that could be flipped open in a moment to reveal a variety of bolts for her crossbow, including some with silver heads. "How many coppers do ya think'd be out in THIS weather?"  
  
Nodoka walked towards the prow of the ship, noting that the Amazons were covering the cannon and stowing cargo. She finally found the Captain at the very prow. "We're going through the storm?"  
  
"Aye, Saotome." Melys turned to Nodoka briefly before regarding the storm again. "It looks a bad one, but nothing we haven't handled before. Looks like the rains are heavy, winds gusting to about 45, hail mixed with the rain and some lightning but not much."  
  
"Relatively," allowed Nodoka, remembering some of the storms she'd been through out away from the cities. Catching sight of a shimmering curtain caused by radically different air masses, she pointed. "Is that a Zone over there?"  
  
Melys after consulting a map. "Yeah, looks like it's a heavy one like the one near Fort Blacksands. Small reptine village. Won't bother trying to pronounce it."  
  
Nodoka nodded absently. The last she'd seen that nice Chinese girl, Shampoo had been wearing heavy weights and in one of those heavy Zones. Nodoka wondered if Shampoo had survived Boot Camp.  
  
-------------------  
  
Four months previous:  
  
Shampoo entered the cave wearing her best new armor, her BDA (best dress armor) in fact. It had been a difficult year. Though Boot Camp had only lasted four months, advanced training had taken another two, and then another two months visiting other bases and repeatedly being tested.  
  
She had faced warriors and pirates, goblins and the fiendish octopus men, undead that clamored for her blood and monsters who sought to feast on her flesh. She had faced them all, mostly without fear.  
  
Now a proud Amazon facing another challenge, alone. Proud, but scared. Drug-crazed, spear-toting goblins would have been preferrable.  
  
Now she proudly wore the three badges on the left upper sleeve of her armor. The first, showing her House to be that of Rising Sun. The second, her rank within the military organization of the House (Specialist) bisected by the branch (Home Guard). The third badge, the hardest one, wasn't something she had chosen but that had been planned for her the moment she had been taken to Boot Camp. The badge indicated her Specialty.  
  
Shampoo checked herself as she wound her way through the narrow pass. The rod at her belt was a low level magical weapon, a spear that could collapse into a rod about the length of her thigh. The thick arrows were perfectly stored within her quiver. Shampoo's horsebow, the main weapon she had trained in for months, gleamed with a fresh painting of enamel.  
  
A snuffling sound and a vague form shimmered into being as an emerald dragonmage dropped her Invisibility spell. "*About time, human.*"  
  
Shampoo nodded as she walked past. This was her final test. One that she had learned of only five months ago. She'd learned more and more of it over the intervening time and the initial panic had run out. Though now, faced with the event herself, her stomach hurt.  
  
"*Good luck.*" The emerald dragon called out telepathically after her, noting the big bad human's knees were shaking.  
  
Finally Shampoo climbed down a short overhang and entered what she had hoped was the correct cave. The scratches left at the entry matched the sketch in her booklet, at least. Deep breathing could be heard within the dark depths, otherwise the only sound was the surf far below. Shampoo swallowed nervously, then steeled herself.  
  
"I come here to offer challenge! By the ancient pact and rules of dragonkind, I, Shampoo of Nichieju, Warrior of Rising Sun, Amazon of two tribes, demand battle!"  
  
The slow breathing stopped. "What? Who? Oh. It's that time, is it?" The voice was deep and spoken aloud with equipment that wasn't quite right for human speech.  
  
Shampoo let out a deep breath. It sounded like her opponent hadn't expected her to show up and had been asleep. Maybe she could win quickly. "I call for the rite of Combat Of Subdual."  
  
"Do you know what you ask, human?" The voice ended in a puzzled tone. "Why do you challenge me? And what stakes?"  
  
Shampoo frowned at the deviation from the script. "I challenge you because I must. Show yourself, Frostbite!"  
  
The shadows moved, the silver dragon emerging from his lair. "The stakes?"  
  
"If I win, you forsake this marriage, I go back to Ranma and lose my position within Rising Sun. No holding back, no quarter. We fight until one cannot fight any longer."  
  
The dragon sighed, long and low. "You would be dishonored within the terms of Rising Sun. You would be forever outcast. And if I should win?"  
  
Shampoo twisted the rod, transforming it to spear form. Much more useful in close quarters like the tunnel to the lair. "Standard terms of dragonkin. But I do not intend to lose."  
  
Frostbite blinked. Slavery if she lost, disgrace and exile if she won. He reflected that HIS Shampoo never done anything by half measures either. "I do not like this, and I do not wish to battle you. Unfortunately I do not have a choice as you invoked the pact."  
  
"Then," Shampoo said as she began spinning the spear in a rapid blur, "let us battle! Defend yourself!"  
  
A saddened expression flitted over the dragon's face. He waited for the Amazon to get within thirty feet before slamming out with his breath weapon, a blast of ice and snow that transformed the tunnel for eighty feet into a scene out of an Ice Age.  
  
Observing the ice sculpture caught in mid-run towards him, Frostbite grumbled about stubborn damn Amazons with a chip permanently affixed to their shoulder. "Couldn't ever try doing this the easy way, oh no. Not the mighty warrior Shampoo!"  
  
The ice crackled, cracked, and split, Shampoo stumbling forth with icicles hanging off of her. "Hah, I came prepared for you. This won't be that eas...."  
  
Frostbite leapt forward, crashing into Shampoo and sending her flying out into the air. She caught a quick glimpse of the surf below her, way below her. Then she was snatched out of midair by a large pair of claws.  
  
"*Your weapons are back in the cave. You've been disarmed Shampoo. Surrender.*"  
  
"NEVER!" Shampoo beat on the claws holding her with her fists. "I am an Amazon, we don't surrender!"  
  
"*Stubborn, foolish, prideful, stupid, stupid, STUPID!*" The dragon swept along the beach at high speed dropping the Amazon in a dune while berating her. "*You could just file for a divorce! We never consummated anything! You don't have to do this.*"  
  
Shampoo spat blood and sand out of her mouth, seeing the dragon building up speed for another attack. "Okay, maybe I bit off a bit more than I can chew. But I will NOT...."  
  
The rest of her speech was bitten off as the real Frostbite dropped Invisibility and slammed the Amazon face forward into the dune, then pressed down with all his weight. With a few deft movements, he buried the Amazon to her head in the sand, then settled down for a nice nap curled around her protectively.  
  
Shampoo woke up a few hours later to discover she was well and truly trapped. Worse, she'd been stuck like that for three more hours until the dragon awoke. Seeing that she wasn't attacking anymore, the dragon freed her.  
  
"*Well, Shampoo, if it means that much to you, I shall register that the marriage was never consummated and that we both agree it should be annulled.*"  
  
"That was not the terms of the battle."  
  
"Huh?" Frostbite sounded rather less intelligent than he would have preferred.  
  
"You have won. Now if you will take elven form?"  
  
Uncertainly, Frostbite shimmered and took his human guise. "I do not require or keep slaves, Shampoo.  
  
Shampoo stepped close to the silver-haired elf, seeming to examine him closely. Then, with a playful smile, launched herself. "Wo da airen! Wo ai ni!"  
  
"Huh?!" Frostbite repeated as someone wrapped herself around him. Sometimes he just didn't get humans, even though he had been one several centuries ago.  
  
Shampoo snuggled herself against her husband, feeling that now she had at least done the proper thing by her own culture's standards.  
  
----------------  
  
"Now:"  
  
Eighty feet of serpentine form glinted in the sun. Silver wings sliced air as dragon and rider coasted along at high speeds.  
  
Shampoo munched on a few sandwiches in midflight, keeping an eye out for any attackers and her bow in the saddlehook that kept it ready for use.  
  
There were many things one could say about their relationship. One of which would be that if Mousse had ever shown up and tried to come between the two, he most likely would have been buried the very next day.   
  
Shampoo eyed a few distant specks and pulled out a spyglass kept on a tether to the saddle. She made a face and put the remains of her sandwich away when she made out the harpies. Ugly things, carrion birds without much to recommend them. Even kobolds had better dietary habits. About as much threat to her husband as the aforementioned kobolds.  
  
"*Coming up on the Valley. Looks like a stormfront is passing through. Do you want to go through it?*"  
  
Shampoo concentrated on the mindlink now that Frostbite had opened it. "If big strong Master wouldn't mind?"  
  
There was a mental grumbling which Shampoo laughed at. She knew the big dragon didn't particularly care for the slave-master routine, but tolerated it as he knew full well that Shampoo would find some worse way of teasing him if he did not.  
  
The dragonpriest grumbled aloud and claws moved in precise motions. Glowing white sigils appeared in the air, forming a transparent shield which stretched to cover them in a teardrop shape.  
  
"We could just go through the rain!" Shampoo slapped the neck near her saddle.  
  
"*It's rain and hail and thunder. I will *not* endanger the little one...*  
  
"What do you..." Shampoo's eyes bugged. "You said 'little one'?!"  
  
"*Remember three days ago when we...*"  
  
"I remember, I remember," Shampoo yelled, blushing furiously.  
  
"*Well, when we passed the coast, the wind changed and it brought your scent forward. Congratulations, wife.*"  
  
Shampoo's eyes were bugging. A hand crept up to gently touch her stomach. "I..."  
  
Frostbite grinned, careful that the dragonrider couldn't observe. He had suspected, but the latest change in scent made things obvious. He wondered if Shampoo was really ready for this though.  
  
Shampoo made a mental note that as soon as they landed she would have to beat up a dragon for springing a surprise like this at the last moment. Was she getting enough vitamins? Exercise? What about her diet?  
  
Enough of the rain got through the shield to bring her out of shock.  
  
--------------  
  
Kasumi watched from a tower window as the water came down. Aramar was BIG and it was mainly ocean. The sun shone without interruption over most of it, the "string of pearls" or near-orbit moons and clouds of orbiting gas and debris providing a few areas with occasional twilight. And there were Zones that had a sort of artificial nightfall. But over most of the surface of the world, the sun was brightly shining.  
  
Which resulted in rain being frequent unless you happened to be in a desert zone or on the far side of some mountains sufficiently high that any low clouds that might dump rain were diverted.  
  
There were occasionally days where only a light rain would fall. More frequently there were rainstorms that were hard enough to dim visibility to a hundred feet or less. All too frequently, one had rainstorms like this one where lightning seemed to walk along the ground but you couldn't tell for sure because the visibility was measured in inches.  
  
Almost every variety of plant had long roots to protect them, and many areas had 'Weather Extreme Diminishing' wards cast and renewed simply as a precaution. But that was Ranma's job, and he hadn't been around to do it.  
  
So Kasumi, as a priest of Etragar, politely asked the storm to be gentle around her house. And because of her status, the storm listened and abated its fury. Visibility increased to a hundred yards.  
  
A dragon of silvery hue landing brought Kasumi up out of her chair, and she thought she saw a glimpse of purple hair as the dragon's rider dashed for shelter. "Keide?" Kasumi called one of the maids, a slender elven girl. "Keide, that girl must be drenched. Get her a towel and some dry clothes will you? Something that would fit a short Delphins."  
  
The thin elf bowed and hurried about her task without a word.  
  
Kasumi returned to watching out the window as the dragon held a few bags closer to the stables, allowing the handlers within to mainly keep dry while he was unloaded. Then the dragon went out into the rain to allow it to sluice over him, uncaring of the elements.  
  
Kasumi recalled when she had last seen Frostbite. The dragon had come to the Tower barely three months after they'd all parted ways. He'd heard how close Kasumi and Shampoo had been, and had come to tell Kasumi of the training Shampoo had undergone and of the Delphins plan to get them married.  
  
He'd also told Kasumi that a long time ago, he had met other versions of themselves, and had ended up married to Shampoo. There had been a long battle against a demonic force that had been slowly infesting their world and which had been drawn to the area where so much dimensional travel had been done. And, in order to appease her great grandmother, Shampoo had challenged HIM in dragonform. He'd been puzzled and had pinned her under one claw while wondering what was going on. Then, with her Great Grandmother watching, Shampoo had had Frostbite shift back to human form so she could declare him her husband.  
  
Eventually the Evil had been beaten back and contained. Odd planewalking allies like that Celestial girl had appeared and strengthened their cause. Then Shampoo and Frostbite had returned here, though one of the injuries inflicted by the demons had left Shampoo barren. Shampoo had never learned of it, as it would have been devastating to her. Frostbite himself kept those memories blocked for the most part, using a draconic mind trick.  
  
Kasumi had sympathized and agreed that it should be Shampoo's decision. Frostbite had been overwrought by the similarities and had had to dull the memories of his previous relationship to cope with it.  
  
Keide (who usually went by the name of Leafwhisper but Kasumi tried to use her name without translating it from Elven) could be heard talking to Shampoo in the foyer. Shampoo's voice was complaining but Kasumi couldn't make out the words.  
  
Frostbite remained out in the rain, which Kasumi took to mean that the two had had an argument. Oh dear.  
  
A Delphins airship, rain sleeting off it, lowered itself out of the clouds as thunder crashed in the near distance.  
  
Kasumi spent a moment watching the experienced Delphins tie the ship off and furl sails, not that they had much open as they navigated a storm. Still, the duties of a host are many, and Kasumi eventually made her way to the stairway and from there to one of the guest rooms.  
  
"Kasumi!" Shampoo hugged her non-Amazon "sister" lightly but with affection. Kasumi took a moment to examine the girl and was pleasantly surprised. Shampoo had lost a bit of baby fat, and looked a little leaner and tougher, but was still the bouncy Amazon who had shown up at the Tendo Household what seemed like a King's Age ago.  
  
Shampoo looked over Kasumi, and noted that Kasumi had changed, but it wasn't a physical change that she could put her finger on. It was more the aura of serenity and lasting peace and a sort of sense of timelessness that seemed to be a part of all the Healer Priests she'd met.  
  
Kasumi eyed Shampoo's uniform, hung over a rod while it dried, and Shampoo wore the simple tunic and braies that was the unofficial 'off duty' clothes that Delphins favored. "Oh, you've got your specialist qualification!"  
  
"Yes, I wish I could send notice to my Great Grandmother." Shampoo shrugged. Her whole village would be proud of her showing, she felt. It had been a *tough* time training, but she had done well as a representitive of her village.  
  
"I'm sure she would be proud of you," Kasumi nodded, knowing from her own contacts that Delphins Boot Camp meant "one was treated as a boot."  
  
Shampoo grinned at the priestess, certain she had *no* idea what the Amazon had gone through.  
  
--------  
  
Despite popular opinion, he was not dead. He'd lost his left hand. Been transfixed with arrows seven times. Crossbow bolts in his posterior, twice. Hit by lightning, fireballs, manna bolts, ice, magic missiles, flying discs, thrown knives and spears and other assorted martial weapons - more times than he'd care to remember.  
  
He had been cursed at Jusenkyo, cursed as a thief, cursed as a temple thief, cursed as a tomb robber, cursed by a really powerful blackskinned white-haired elven sorceress, cursed by other things that he wasn't sure how to classify.  
  
He had been chased by Amazons and little mouse thingies, and he'd had dragons after him.  
  
But he was Genma Saotome, head of Clan Saotome (no matter what his grandfather or Nodoka might say), Master of the Saotome School of Anything Goes Martial Arts (no matter what Happosai might say), the father of Ranma Saotome who had mapped out his destiny and life long before he was born and nobody was going to tell him any different!  
  
That he was currently a statue of a panda, with a hose parked up his butt, water spraying out of his mouth, in a goblin village known as Dungwattle was of no consequence. He was Genma Saotome, and he would reclaim the boy and his retirement would be assured.  
  
Now if only the pigeons would stop pooping on him.  
  
--------  
  
Ranma gripped the railing and looked over the deck. Once through the next set of Zones, he could use a "Teleport Without Error" and get directly to his tower. The problem was that Zones could be as small as a few feet wide, or a slash hundreds of miles across, but each had slightly different physical or magical properties. Some Zones had extremely heavy gravity or the air within them was thick or magic just misfired in odd ways. So, to get from the Imperial Palace (where he'd paid his respects to the widowed Empress) to the Lonely Tower required either two Teleports (from Emeraldis to Amberlake or Tympani and then to the Tower) or going past the Koradai Drift by other means and then using a spell.  
  
There was also the occasional ghost or monster that could interfere with the really long range teleports, though these were rare.  
  
The year of Ordeal had been quite difficult, and Ranma had surpassed his limits many times, but there could be no doubt about his earning the Sapphire Rankstone at this point. He'd been reinserted back into his universe of origin, and been repairing damage done by his previous visit.  
  
When Soun Tendo returned, he would find the Tendo dojo much as he remembered it. Likewise the Amazon village had been repaired. The transformations and summonings had started becoming undone the moment Wyndlace died, it was the physical damage that was hard to erase. Spells used originally on spelljamming vessels like "Repair" had proven their worth, and Ranma thought he could cast a basic "Remove Curse" in his sleep now.  
  
A scuttling noise brought Ranma's attention briefly back to the present. A large mantis-like creature bobbed her head and chirped unhappily at the mage. Ranma nodded in reply. A stormfront sweeping through the area, a miserable thing to the thri-kreen who preferred desert climes. The merchant continued to click and chirp about this latest indignity for a few moments before going on her way.   
  
Ranma settled back into thought as the thri-kreen continued to try to find someone who would cast a Weather Protection for her, for free of course.  
  
Most high-levels Ordeals also contained the making of talismans or amulets, or something else permanent the mage could leave behind when finally passing from life. Sometimes it was physical, sometimes it was simply adding to the Art itself with a new spell or technique. Ranma had taken the time to craft a simple talisman that acted as a manna filter, allowing one to recharge manna normally without having a local taint affecting the spellcaster.  
  
He had quite lost track of time when finally Ranma sensed the proximity of the Tower and used his Mass Teleport to appear in the central hall of his home with his luggage. Looking about, he noticed the large number of tapestries and a mural. The place had been fixed up quite a bit since his last appearance.  
  
Kasumi moved forward from the archways, wearing the simple white robes of a Healer.  
  
Ranma smiled at his wife, having learned something of Japanese customs during his ordeal. "I'm home."  
  
Kasumi smiled back and bowed with her hands clasped in front of her as she gave the ritual reply. "Welcome home."  
  
---------------  
  
EPILOGUE:  
  
The woman was old and grey and wrinkled, but there was a twinkle in her eye and a warmth in her smile that revealed that her heart was still young, or young enough. The child in her lap, barely past toddler, sat still and relaxed as he listened to the woman conclude her tale.  
  
"...and so it came to pass that in the years afterward, Ranma became a powerful mage but never attained Star-rank as he valued his humanity so much. He and his wives came to the Empire's defense during the Boskone Third War nine years later, which was where Megumi perished in valiant battle, and Usagi Shades was lost in a dimensional rift - never to be heard from again.   
  
"Ranma died at the age of one hundred seven, long after his kirrfolk wife had died, and was followed by his first wife a few months later into that last great adventure. Their children each became powerful mages or wise priests, except for Kaoru, of course. Nodoka Saotome died as befits a Delphins, surrounded by her children and grandchildren and great grandchildren.  
  
"Soun Tendo had a number of new children by his wives, until one day he vanished. Gone back to his home plane, most say - so that when he died he would be reunited with his first wife- Kimiko.  
  
"Midori, Ranma's green eyed sister, eventually upset all the betting by catching Stormshadow during a Sadie Hawkins Race. Some say that the dragon Nabiki had a hand in it. As far as I know, Midori is still in the Tower Of Storms, furthering her mastery of chi. One of these days I will go there and see if my old friend remembers me.  
  
"Shampoo and Frostbite had three children. One matured and became a full dragon. One became a half-dragon. The third was human with some of the innate strength and power of a dragon, and it was he who went to his mother's homeland. Shampoo eventually followed in her ninetieth year of life, and it is said that she followed her Great Grandmother's wishes to become an Elder of the tribe of Chinese Amazons. Frostbite remains, watching over his remaining son and daughter, and fulfilling his duties to the Empire.  
  
"Nabiki and Garr had three children as well, though Garr perished during the Boskone War. Nabiki is an older and wiser dragon now, and if she retains some of her mischievousness and love of treasure- why grudge her that?"  
  
The child waited for the old woman to continue for a moment before asking. "But what of the others?"  
  
"Which ones? Keian? He became a true elf and a hundred years is almost as nothing to him. He's still out there, exploring and inventing, somewhere beyond the Pillars Of Twilight. Genma? No one has seen or heard from him. One day the panda statue was there, the next -poof! Perhaps he is with his old friend Soun, or perhaps he is with his wife - reconciled at last. Zen- well, he had many children himself, all Delphins who mainly took after their mother and were a credit to their House. Princess Aura? Well, you know about *her* - she had four children, one of whom married one of Keian's children."  
  
"...but..." The child hesitated to ask further.  
  
The old woman chuckled tiredly. "It's late, great grandchild, and I'm not nearly as young as I twice was. Sleep, and perhaps dream, for yours is a great and glorious heritage full of warm love and hot steel, of cold nights and hot passions. And perhaps you'll have another tale tomorrow."  
  
The child nodded with a "hmmmph" and a smile. Old folks tired easily. "Good night Great Grandmother!"  
  
Akane watched her great grandson go out into the warrens of Ironhill and smiled. So tired. Perhaps she would rest herself, and dream of days long past.  
  
  
FIN  
  
Note: well this is a wild ride, and everyone lives happily ever after. As for what happened to Scarlet and Jared, that's covered in Skysaber's Choice by Skysaber (no i don't know WHEN this will be finished). This was done specifically for Red Death, he of the Ranma 1/2 Superhighway, and is intended for exclusive (other than the RAAC archives) to his site.  
  
Except that a LOT of people archived it elsewhere and i haven't heard from Red in quite some time. *sigh* Best laid plans...  
  
Hopefully you enjoyed it, this was just a mainly amusing story, not intended as epic by any stretch of the imagination. TTFN (ta ta for now)  
  
  
OMAKE OMAKE OMAKE OMAKE (an idea never used)   
  
ok, this is a weird one.  
i was mentioning to Bruce (a bagel pushcart owner) the bit about Genma=Pooh, and he thought that was funny but not really appropriate for Genma. Still, we started throwing ideas about... we both thought that Ryouga made a perfect "Eeyore" and as result this just had to be written.  
  
insert standard disclaimer. i don't own these characters, etc, etc. this is just written to be amusing, no higher meanings, just a one-shot brief look at a possible alterniverse where things are _really_ screwed up  
  
======================  
  
OH, POOH!  
an unserious brief snicker by metroanime@mindspring.com  
http://metroanime.home.mindspring.com/  
  
======================  
  
"HEY YOU!"  
  
Ryouga pointed at himself. "I'm sorry, I don't speak Chinese."  
  
"Come on, get in the bus, damnit. Geez, you're holding up the whole tour group. Damn foreign driver.  
Doesn't help that you all look alike."  
  
"Uhm," Ryouga said as the fellows directed him to the driver's seat of the bus. "Errr. I have to go catch  
Ranma Saotome for missing our duel. And I don't know how to drive."  
  
"Geez, you haven't been drinking again, have you? Damn foreigners."  
  
Ryouga frowned and looked up as someone stepped nearby. Only to come to a slack-jawed halt as he stared up into the face of the gorgeous gaijin in front of him.  
  
"Aw, come on, honey, let's get this show on the road!"  
  
His mind a pleasant daze from watching the way the girl's body bounced, Ryouga didn't even realize that he was driving the bus until they were three miles down the road.  
  
The real bus driver, passed out with a bottle in his arms, didn't notice. That Ryouga had a chance to be  
reunited with his father was completely missed. That the tour bus wasn't even supposed to be in China was  
likewise unknown to Ryouga, but it turned up enough that the gas station was kind of used to it by now.  
  
--------------------  
  
The Jusenkyo Guide came out of his hut and wondered how the heck someone had gotten a tour bus here. This was Jusenkyo, after all, in the Bayankala mountain range. Steep mountains, torturous narrow paths with sudden drop offs, rope bridges over otherwise impassable ravines.  
  
The Guide shrugged. "Why ask why?"  
  
The group forming in front of the bus looked like a truly mixed lot. Foreign tourists from their clothes  
and appearance, most of them. Americans in their motley clothing, Japanese wearing western clothing with  
nonsense English slogans and festooned with cameras, Arabics wearing hooded robes and with the women veiled, even a pair of mufti-wearing Africans. And about thirty kids carrying various stuffed animals.  
  
"Never have such diverse group come to Jusenkyo," admitted the Guide in a soft voice. He continued in a  
louder voice, using Japanese (poor), English (even worse) a moment later, and following up with French  
(don't ask) in the off hope that at least one common language could be used. Fortunately the "California"  
looking girl seemed to be able to translate for the others.  
  
Things were going well, with cameras clicking and the muted buzz of whispered translations as the Guide began explaining the Cursed Springs. Of course, things could not continue this way. It all started with one little girl dropping her stuffed donkey into a spring and Ryouga reaching in to grab it.  
  
--------------MUCH LATER------------  
  
"You looked at me in the nude, you... PERVERT!"  
  
The short individual looked back at Akane. "And your point is?"  
  
Akane's eyes narrowed. "What did you say? Are you trying to imply that you didn't see anything?"  
  
Ranma guffawed. "I saw everything that was there. I just don't see what you're making the big fuss about. I  
didn't see anything particularly interesting, just you coming in without clothes. So what was the big deal?"  
  
Akane turned pale, then (as if a tide had reversed) turned scarlet. "You... you... you..." The table came  
up as Ranma turned his head, ignoring the angry girl.  
  
The table came slamming down. It seemed to momentarily flatten Ranma before a massive recoil took place. The table shot into the next room, dragging Akane along behind it. The sound of a massive impact and a startled yelp came simultaneously. Fortunately it was off-camera so as not to offend anyone.  
  
"Well, that she had coming," suggested Nabiki. "Ranma, could you do your song again to remind dear sister why a shot to the head isn't effective? At least when you're in your cursed form."  
  
"Deeee-lighted, Nabiki-chan!" Ranma gave a somewhat idiotic grin back to Nabiki, and even bounced around the yard and dining room in time to his song. Kasumi and Nabiki were amused, Soun and Genma made a pledge to get roaringly drunk later. Akane sulked.   
  
"The wonderful thing about Ranmas  
Is Ranmas are wonderful things  
  
Their tops are made out of rubber  
The bottoms are made out of springs  
  
They're bouncy, trouncy, flouncy, pouncy  
Fun, fun, fun, fun, fun  
  
But the most wonderful thing about Ranmas is  
I'm the only one  
  
The wonderful thing about Ranmas  
Is Ranmas are wonderful chaps  
  
They're loaded with vim and vigor  
They love to leap in your laps  
  
They're jumpy, bumpy, clumpy, thumpy  
Fun, fun, fun, fun, fun  
  
But the most wonderful thing about Ranmas is  
I'm the only one  
  
Ranmas are cuddly fellows  
Ranmas are awfully sweet  
  
Everyone else is jealous  
That's why I repeat  
  
The wonderful thing about Ranmas  
Is Ranmas are wonderful things  
  
Their tops are made out of rubber  
Their bottoms are made out of springs  
  
They're bouncy, trouncy, flouncy, pouncy  
Fun, fun, fun, fun, fun  
  
But the most wonderful thing about Ranmas is  
I'm the only one  
  
IIIIIII'mmmmmm the only one!"  
  
Akane was grateful for that at least.  
  
=========================  
  
and yes, the tour bus stopped at a few strange places  
where the passengers picked up souveneirs.  
  
Genma Daffy Duck "Ranma, you're desssssspicable!"  
Ryouga Eeyore   
Ranma Tigger, get him drunk and it's rum-tum-tigger  
  
nasty terrible horrible shortfic. yes, it's meant to be silly. no, it is not meant to be taken seriously though  
if a statue could lead to Rouge's curse then a stuffed Pooh bear could result in...  
  
a terrible tragic story, ne?  
  
ja ne,  
  
gregg  



End file.
